Nya's Journey To Where She Is Today 2
by Astrid16
Summary: READ ORIGINAL FIRST! Sorry for caps. A series of one-shots about Nya and Zane. Some will be angst-y and sad, others will be humorous and lighthearted. I will be skipping back and forth in time, the first chapter occurring a month after the last one ended (before the epilogue) others will be years into the future. Please review. Rated T to be safe, though K would be ok. No slash.
1. An Emotional Morning

**If you are looking for action, skip the first few chapters and go straight to chapter 4, 'Not Again.'**

**I would recommend reading **_'Nya's Journey To Where She Is Today'_ **before this, because you will be a little lost if you don't. **

******And I totally support Jaya, just so you all know. It is the best of the best, but the question must be raised: Who would Nya choose if Jay were to pass? I think Zane.**

**This will be a series of one-shots about Zane and Nya's growing relationship. Some will be angst-y and sad, others will be lighthearted and humorous, and ****all**** will have an essence of fluffy romance. (Color that last word in a bunch of rainbow colors!)**

**This first one will be sad, and will begin a month after the last one ended (before the epilogue.) But I promise, the next one will be more ****lighthearted. **

**Everyone will seem a bit out of character, but I assure you that it is done on purpose. Anyone who has lost someone close to their hearts knows that grief can change people. Kai and Nya will seem especially out of character, since they were closest to Jay when he...spoiler alert...:) And it was somewhat their fault, so guilt is rather rampant.**

**And tell me if you find some words that are wrong or don't belong. My brother enjoys getting into my writing program and messing with it. The other day, I was proofreading something and found this: **

_**"And then they all died. Nilla Wafer top hat time." **_

**Will someone please elaborate? I'm not kidding, That is what he wrote. Cracked me up, but I'll be annoyed if one of those gets past me and you all read it. That would be ****embarrassing. **

* * *

The sun was shining its warm yellow rays down through the trees, illuminating the forest floor. Birds were chirping pleasantly, filling the air with its sound, carried by the light breeze.

"How about a race?" Kai suggested.

I looked at my brother as he walked on my left, then at Jay, who was on my right. I shifted the picnic basket to my left arm and planted it in the crook of my elbow.

Jay gave me a cheeky smile and spoke. "What do you say, Nya?"

My heart started hammering in my chest. My feet suddenly quit moving, and I felt like lead weights were holding them down. "I-I don't know," I said nervously, looking into the forest, which suddenly looked dark and foreboding. I started breathing fast in my panic. "There's something in there. I want to go back."

Kai stopped and looked behind him, at me, then ahead of him at the forest. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary, sis," he said. "It's too bright for anything to be hiding."

I looked at the woods in front of us again, and gasped, pointing at the growing darkness. "Don't you see that?"

Jay raised his scarred right eyebrow at me. "See what?"

My vision suddenly began to swirl in and out of focus, and the darkness consumed me, suffocating, cold, and damp. In the distance, I heard Jay scream. A horrible dying wail that nearly made my heart stop.

I woke up suddenly and sat up, gasping for breath. I felt my face, which was wet with cold sweat and tears. My chest heaved as I suppressed a scream. I remembered where I was, and gradually lowered myself onto my pillow again, still breathing heavily.

_Click._

My body went rigid as I heard the door open. My head shot up and I searched the darkness for whoever was entering. A silhouette came through the creaky door and shut it behind as quietly as possible. The figure would have gone by unnoticed if not for the telltale squeak of the old door, and the sound of the match as it opened and closed.

"Is that you, Zane?" I asked in a whisper. Out of habit, I fingered a ring that hung from a fine chain around my neck. "Hello?"

The silhouette seemingly floated over to my bed and sat down in the chair. "Yes, Nya. I am here."

I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed somewhat as Zane's form became recognizable. My fingers trembled as I stared at what I assumed was his face. It was hard to tell in the darkness."It's been a month, Zane." My voice was cracked and hoarse. "Why does it still haunt me?"

Zane sighed. "Some things are just hard to forget. What we experienced is something that is impossible to forget, ever." He paused. "Unless, of course, if you have retrograde amnesia," his joke was poorly placed, and barely merited a scoff.

I rolled my eyes in the darkness and held out my trembling hand. I felt Zane's cool fingers squeeze it securely. I squeezed back and inhaled an unsteady breath.

I stared at the ceiling for well over a minute before Zane's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Breath, Nya."

I realized that I hadn't exhaled, and did so quickly, breathing in again slowly and letting it out.

"I didn't scream, Zane," I said eventually. "How did you know to come?"

"It's after four," he said quietly. "You always have your nightmares after four."

I thought about that for a few seconds. It was true. I always woke up around four in the morning, and Zane always came in after that. I assumed it was because I usually made enough noise to wake up the dead when I shot upright. Today, the dream had been cut short _(thank goodness)_ and I had somehow restrained myself from making a loud noise because of that.

Zane reached out with his free hand and stroked my hair gently. "I've gotten into the habit of waking up when you do, by setting an alarm in my computer."

I breathed slowly, the muscles in my diaphragm spasming. "You don't have to, you know."

Zane's hand ran down my scalp soothingly. "I am aware of that, Nya." His hand rose back up to the top of my head and went downward again. "But I am an android. I have no real need of rest, and my programming says to protect you, and our brothers."

I felt my muscles start to melt as he caressed my hair. I moaned softly and turned my body toward him. "Thank you." I pulled his hand to my chin and held it there, glad to feel somewhat less rigid and panicked.

It was the same scenario every morning. I wake up, he comes in and talks until I calm down, then we both leave to start training. Ever since that picnic about a month ago, I realized that I needed to learn to fight with my body as well as my samurai suit. I would have been a lot more helpful to Jay and Kai if I'd had some real martial arts training back then. Thanks to Zane's patient teaching, I was getting much better. I didn't want to lose another brother, so I had poured my heart and soul into his training.

Zane ran his thumb over my cheek slowly, an almost mesmerizing touch that helped slow my racing mind. "Ready to begin training?" He asked me quietly.

I wanted to shake my head, and make him stay by my side a little bit longer, but decided against it. I didn't like taking advantage of anyone. I eventually nodded.

"Okay," Zane said, "I'll see you in a while." He let go of my hand and left as quietly as he had come, shutting the door behind him.

I pushed the blankets off of my body and slowly lowered my feet onto the cold wood floor, shivering slightly. This was one of those times that I wished we had a better heating system. I looked out my window, at the yellow treetops far below, and hugged myself. I felt a strong urge to take a warm shower, but didn't want to keep Zane waiting too long.

I wiggled into a warm pair of clothing and combed my hair as fast as I could, then ran out the door to meet up with him. I tiptoed past the men's dorm, not wanting anyone to wake up. Zane and I had kept out training, and my nightmares, a secret from even my brother.

I entered the training room, where Zane was setting up equipment. The smell of coffee wafted through the room, coupled with the pungent scent of sausage. Zane had, as usual, made a post-breakfast snack. He always told me that eating before exercise was imperative...whatever that meant.

Zane turned and saw me walking through the door. A wide smile crossed his face and he picked up a platter of small sausages and hot drinks. "I was not certain which beverage you would prefer this morning, so I made both coffee and hot chocolate." He held it out for presentation.

The first few times he had done this, I had felt flustered and a little embarrassed. He didn't have to go through all of the effort. But after a week of protest, I had given up on trying to stop him. He loved to do it, so why deprive him of the joy of serving? He thrived off of our approval and kind words, so telling him to stop would be the same in his mind as a direct insult.

I took the hot chocolate and a couple sausages. "Thank you, Zane." I said with a smile as I took a sip of the drink. It was, as usual, the perfect temperature for drinking. Not hot enough to burn if you sipped it, but not cool enough to guzzle without burning your throat.

Zane sat down next to me on a bench and took the coffee mug. He drank it quickly and then ate the sausage. I had been surprised when he told me that he loved hot drinks. You would think that, being the ninja of ice, he would loved his coffee iced or blended. But he told me that he preferred to have his drinks warm. Just one of the many things that never ceased to surprise me about him.

"Today," he said eventually, "I'm thinking that we could work on your balance."

I nodded and swallowed a bite of food. "Sounds good." I drained the last of my cup and stood up with a quiet yawn and a blink. I leaned back too far as I stretched my arms behind me, and started to fall toward the bench with a gasp of alarm as I tried to right myself.

Zane's arms reached out and caught me before I could hit my head on the bench, and he chuckled as he held me with one arm. "Balance certainly sounds like a good lesson for today."

I looked up at him and blushed. "Yeah, I guess so." Our positions reminded me somewhat of a pair of dancers doing the tango. He helped me get upright and let go of my torso. "Thanks, Zane."

Zane nodded in acknowledgement. "Now," he grabbed two katanas and handed one to me. "We can have a warm up before the lesson." He held up his long, narrow weapon and took a step back, balancing his body.

I took a step forward and began my advance. Swords were not my strongest weapon, but were easy enough to use against the average evil Nindroid, which I could best with my eyes closed. Zane was certainly not included in that equation, as he was not only stronger than me, but at least a foot taller. I circled my opponent, then began blocking his hits, a loud clash of steel against steel.

"So do you want to talk about your dream?" Zane asked as he blocked a series of combinations.

I thrust toward his stomach. "Absolutely not."

Zane easily blocked the blow and countered with one of his own. "Why not?"

I jumped backwards, nearly tripping over my feet as I landed a good distance from the swiping blade. "Because no one needs to know."

Zane saw me trip and stilled his blade just long enough for me to right myself. "They do say," he did a downward thrust toward my scalp, "talking about things that disturb you will help overcome your fears."

I lifted the blade above my head, and Zane's sword hit the flat side of mine with a dull clang. "Do they?" I swung my sword at Zane's legs, then suddenly shifted the blade toward his hand at the last second.

Zane shifted his wrist, tilting the blade toward his feet and pushing my blade away from his body. "No," his voice was dripping with sarcasm. "No, keeping it to yourself solves every problem." He swung toward my right shoulder.

I couldn't help a laugh as I ducked. The blade went over my head. "Your sense of humor seems out of character, after knowing you for so long as a humorless but handsome young man."

Zane took advantage of the weak spot I had left open with my crouch, and knocked my blade out of my fingers. I fell onto my back in surprise. He held his blade at my neck for just a moment before dropping it to the floor behind him with a clatter and holding out a hand, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "And has that view changed?" He joked as he pulled me to my feet.

I felt my heart to a little dance in my chest for just a moment before I calmed it and took a breath. "Somewhat," I began, drawing a disappointed look from his face. "You are no longer humorless, and you are by no means a young man. But if anything you've only grown more handsome with time." I wanted to take it back. Of course I meant it as a compliment, but I didn't want him to think I was flirting. It was too soon after Jay's death for anything like that.

Zane held an almost indiscernible look on his face as he let go of my hand and turned his back to me. He bent over to pick up his sword, then went for mine. Still keeping his back turned, he put the katanas away in a large closet.

"I am unsure what to make of that comment, Nya," he said quietly. He turned and faced me slowly, his face looking as emotionless as a stone wall. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Ready for the lesson?"

The next two hours were a blur of different stretches, poses and exercises that strengthened both body and mind, according to Zane. By the time it was over, I was exhausted and lightheaded, but I felt that I had improved my balance at least a little bit by the end of the lesson.

"Ready to start on breakfast?" Zane asked, grabbing our dishes and walking out the door.

I nodded and followed him out. "Am I ever not?" I flashed a weak smile.

Zane smiled and dipped his head forward, gesturing down the hall. "What shall we make?"

I considered this a moment before speaking. "Hash browns and scrambled eggs."

Zane ran silently up the steps to the deck. "With onions?"

"And cheese," I added as we entered the kitchen.

"You cannot forget the bacon chunks." Zane dropped the dishes in the sink and turned on the faucet. "Can you get that going please?"

I nodded and went to the fridge. I quickly found a package of bacon and tossed it into a pan.

The smell of smoky, salty pork filled the air a few minutes later, and Zane was grating potatoes soon after.

I flipped the bacon in the pan and nearly gagged from the pungent scent. I liked the taste of bacon, but the fumes that filled the air while it was being fried was enough to make anyone feel sick, let alone myself. I still had random nausea spells and headaches, and streaks of despondent behavior, typically triggered by someone mentioning my former fiancé's name in an insensitive manner. I still felt an insufferable amount of grief every time I thought of him.

"Ouch!" I cried out as a large, scalding mess of melted fat landed on my right arm and burned my skin. I growled and tossed the spatula onto the floor in my anger, and ran my forearm under a cool spray of water. "I can't stand it." I mumbled.

Zane cam up beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. "My apologies, Nya." He said, grabbing a towel and the first aid kit. "I should have remembered that you don't like to prepare bacon." He dried my arm and put a cold, gooey salve on the dime-sized burn. "You can grate the cheese instead." He covered it in a bandage and quickly put away the box.

I blinked, surprised that he had taken care of the wound so fast. "Ahh..." I blinked again. "Sure, Zane, if you don't mind."

Zane shook his head, his back now turned to me as he reached down and grabbed the spatula from where it had landed on the floor. "Not at all, Nya." He said pleasantly, flipping the bacon.

I ran to the cupboard that I thought held the cheese grater and looked inside with a growl. "I don't see it," I got onto my knees and looked deeper.

"Above your head," Zane said, not looking up from his work.

I nodded to myself and got off of my knees, rubbing my temple and moaning quietly as a light headache invaded my mind. I blinked away stars and opened the cupboard higher up, and saw serving bowls and plates. "Nope."

Zane set down the spatula and walked over to my side, his feet making no sound as he moved across the floor. He peered into the cupboard and pulled the grater out from a shelf I couldn't see very well because of my height, and handed it to me nonchalantly. He reached back into the cupboard and grabbed a plate and mixing bowl, and walked back over to the stove without a word.

My face flushed slightly from embarrassment, and I shut the cupboard door. I got the cheese out and began grating on the counter as far away from the bacon pan as possible. "So how did you sleep last night, Zane?" I asked.

Zane loaded the bacon onto his plate. "Very well, thank you." He grabbed a knife and started dicing the meat into the mixing bowl. "Yourself?"

_Did he even have to ask?_ "Terrible." I loaded the cheese into a bowl and finished Zane's job of grating potatoes.

Zane grabbed a carton of eggs and cracked them into the mixing bowl with the bacon. "I see," he said thoughtfully. "I am going to assume, then, that you had the same dream you usually have?"

The headache pounded harder. "And who said I always have the same dream?" I never talked about my dreams to anyone, feeling that it was an invasion of privacy.

Zane handed me an onion and a knife. "You always shout Jay's name in your sleep, coupled with the words 'race' and 'picnic,' and sometimes 'Nindroid.'" He took the cheese from my outstretched hands and went back to the stove.

My head began to swim as I cut the skin of the onion. "So?"

Zane grabbed a paper towel and wiped the excess grease from the bacon pan. "You only need to dice half the onion," he said.

"Okay," I cut the onion in half and set one part aside.

Zane tossed the towel into a basket and sighed. "I still think you need to talk about it," he softened his tone.

Tears started pouring down my cheeks. I couldn't tell if it was because of the onion or my broken spirit. I blinked and wiped my eyes on my shoulder, somewhat clearing my vision.

Zane walked up behind me and took the knife from my fingers. "Wash your face, It will help." He diced the rest of the onion half with blinding speed, and tossed it into the mixing bowl.

I ran to the sink and splashed my face with icy cold water. Zane appeared again over my shoulder and handed me a towel. I took it with a nod and wiped my face dry. I looked at the towel with another growl as I realized that my makeup had come off with the excess water.

Zane noticed my face and stared at it for a long while. I stared back at his seemingly perplexed expression, thoroughly embarrassed by my now simple appearance.

He shook his head slowly and smiled sadly. "There's only one other time I can recall your face being free of that makeup," he said thoughtfully, taking the towel from my shaking hand and throwing it onto the floor behind him without looking at where it fell. "That would be the day after Jay died." His voice was full of regret, and his eyes reflected the same quality.

My head felt like a hammer was being pounded mercilessly inside of it. I blinked slowly and began to cry again. This time I knew it wasn't the onion's fault.

Zane embraced me gently and put his hand behind my head. He gently pushed my face into his shirt and held me there tightly, rocking gently as he patiently waited for me to be done.

I wrapped my arms around his torso as I started to fall to the floor. What started as a headache now turned to a raging migraine that rendered my body unable to support itself.

Zane lowered himself to his knees and cradled me on his lap, still rocking and rubbing my head with his hand.

I closed my eyes tightly and went rigid, trying to stop the tears. I held my breath and did not move.

"Breath, Nya." Zane said softly, his hand falling from my hair and wrapping around me securely. "Just relax."

But I couldn't relax. Even with his arms around me, offering me security, I could not convince myself that I was safe. My body was frozen, rigid in pain from my burning lungs and tense muscles.

Zane unwrapped his arms and started rubbing my shoulders. I gradually began to relax, though I still refused to breath. I wasn't certain why my body was doing it. I wanted to breath, but just couldn't bring myself to do so.

I suddenly felt my diaphragm contract, and realized that Zane's hands were on my ribcage, pushing so suddenly that my lungs inhaled as a reflex to the pain. I gasped and choked on the air. My lungs felt as if they had suddenly shrunken, and that no matter how quickly or deeply I breathed, I could not get enough air.

Zane let me hang limply in his arms while I caught my breath, a process that took at least two minutes.

"Do me a favor," he said sternly. "Don't ever do that in bed. I can't save you when I can't see you."

I just sat in his arms and trembled, eventually getting my breathing under control, but no less rigid than before. I gripped his hand and stared at the inside of my eyelids, which I held shut so tightly that my eyes hurt.

"I'm sorry, Nya." Zane said quietly as he squeezed my hand. "I should be more carful with my speech when I talk of Jay. The wound is still too tender to the touch." He began rubbing my shoulders again.

"Is something burning?" A voice spoke suddenly behind us. My eyes flew open with a gasp of alarm as I tried to scramble out of Zane's arms.

Zane got to his feet, then grabbed my hand and helped me up. He looked at the man who had just entered, then at the empty pan on the stove. "I forgot about that," he reached over and turned off the burner with his free hand. "Good morning, Lloyd."

Lloyd stepped forward and examined my face. "Good morning, you two." I had a sudden urge to hide behind Zane's back, but I controlled the unease and returned his gaze as evenly as I could. But my eyes found the floor within a few seconds, and I barely managed to mumble out a "good morning, Lloyd."

Lloyd averted his eyes from my face, to my immense relief. His eyes wandered to the stove. "You want some help?"

Zane shook his head. "No, thank you. We're almost done. Are the others awake?"

Lloyd let out a shallow laugh, obviously feeling a bit uncomfortable, after seeing me in tears in Zane's arms. It was a thing that did not happen often. "You know them," Lloyd began. "Cole's working out, trying to beat my bench press record. Fat chance of him succeeding, but why not let him try?" He chuckled forcefully. "Kai is still in bed, sleeping like a log." He looked at me again and added in a voice that was tinted with pity and regret. "Like you used to do."

"Well." My voice was sharp and tart. I did not want pity, and Zane seemed to have enough regret for the two of us combined. "Things can change." I let go of Zane's hand and stalked out of the room, leaving a trail of awkward tension in my wake.

I stomped down the stairs and into my room to put on more makeup, a process that only took about two minutes.

"Much better." I flashed something close to a smile in the mirror and put my cosmetics bag away. I turned on my heel and left the room quickly.

I knocked on the boys room loudly before entering, and wrinkled my nose at the stench. The room itself was tidy enough, but I could tell that there were some people that just didn't believe in washing bedsheets every month. I sat down on my brother's bed with a thump, and decided he was more than a little guilty of having the poor hygiene syndrome.

"Ahh!" Kai sat straight up and got me in a headlock, delirious from being awakened so rudely.

"Kai!" I croaked, wishing he would just relax, and not act like a wild dragon who's cave was being explored. "It's me!" I pushed against his arms to no avail.

Kai realized his mistake and instantly let me go. "Sorry, sis." He panted, rubbing his face. "I thought you were something else."

I gripped my throat and coughed. "I think I got that, thanks." I deadpanned.

"No problem," Kai smiled and ran his fingers through his tangled mess of hair. "Time to get up?"

I shook my head and fell into his arms. "Nope."

Kai looked at me in surprise. "No?" He gave me a hug and looked around the room. "Even Lloyd's awake. I think that means I should-"

"No!" My voice rose in desperation. I moaned and hugged his neck. "You need to stay here." I lowered my voice so I wouldn't hurt his ears with my pitch. I didn't want to risk scaring him off.

Kai heated up his body and leaned his head against the wall, allowing me to rest on him more easily. "Rough day?" He said in an equally quiet tone.

I nodded, instantly regretting the motion when my brain started smashing against sea urchins. I moaned again loudly.

Cole's voice floated down the hallway, moving up and down in song as he presumably did workouts in the training room.

Kai laughed lightly. "Did the headache start before or after that ruckus?" He rubbed my shoulders gently.

I managed a smile, the corner of my lip brushing against his ear. "Before." I closed my eyes and let him rub me. I liked it when Zane held me, but my brother was by far the better option. Just his warmth alone was enough to make my muscles loosen. It was, I'll admit it, hard to relax on Zane. I was always afraid of someone finding us together, like Lloyd did on the floor a few minutes ago, and maybe misinterpret it. I was not ready for that kind of humiliation.

However, Zane seemed much less impatient, and always made time for me when I needed someone to lean on. I was lucky, having my brother in a mood good enough to not throw me out the window when I woke him. This was a rare luxury, what Kai was doing for me right now. But Zane almost begged me to spend time with him. He never seemed to tire of giving me a shoulder to cry on, and an ear to listen when I spoke. If only there was a way for our relationship to be less awkward.

"I couldn't help but notice," Kai said after a minute. "You've been a lot less clingy, if you get my meaning. You doing okay?"

I shook my head. "No," I whispered. "I'm not okay. And I haven't been less clingy, Kai. I just haven't been clinging to you." I realized my mistake a moment too late. Zane and I had been keeping our growing relationship a secret for a reason other than the fact that secrets were naturally quite fun. I suspected that Kai might blow a fuse if he knew.

Kai was silent for a minute. "You've found another person to bother in the mornings when you're drowning in melancholy?" His voice was dripping with a mixture of annoyance and humor. Not the reaction I had expected, but I was relieved. Kai pulled me off of his shoulder and cradled me in his lap. "Who is it, Nya?" He didn't sound annoyed in the least, which surprised me even more. If anything, he sounded pleasantly curious.

I hesitated. "Zane," the word was slow and thick like molasses as it ran over my tongue.

I felt Kai's body move jerkily as he chuckled. "I should have known," he said after another pause. "I just can't believe you did it so fast, after Jay..." He let his sentence hang unfinished.

I went slightly rigid again, but forced myself to keep breathing. "We aren't a couple, Kai." I said shortly. "He's just been-"

"Nice?" Kai offered lightly, "polite, maybe? Or overly affectionate, and attending to your every need?"

I resisted the urge to combat his dry humor with a salty slab of my own. "You could say that," I said after a pause. "I didn't ask him to, and even tried to make him stop once, but he's just been too persistent."

"Persistent in what?" He asked.

"Everything." I let out a single, short laugh. "I found out today that he wakes himself up every morning at four, so he can apparently stand at my door or something like that, until I wake up from my nightmare, kicking and screaming, so he can rush in and calm me down." I fingered the hem of Kai's blanket, remembering that he did not know that I ever had nightmares. This was turning into quite an open-booked day.

"And he's been doing lots of other things too," my voice sounded strange in my own ears, and I cleared my throat. "Yeah, saying it out loud makes it at least a possibility, huh?" I let out another laugh. "At the very least, he's being an A-rate gentleman." I nestled my head in Kai's shirt and ignored the stench of body odor.

"But..." Kai coaxed me on patiently. _Since when has he been so lenient? _I wondered absentmindedly.

I sighed. "But I'm not ready, Kai." My voice cracked. "It's only been a month, and those Nindroids are still at large, causing trouble and making the thought of peace sound more like a dream than reality." I shivered and pulled the blanket over my legs. "Even if there weren't any Nindroids to contend with, I need a lot more time before I can even consider another engagement. The last one, if you remember, didn't have a happily-ever-after hanging between the pages."

Kai laughed. "I agree to that." He grabbed the ring on my neck and held it up. "But why Zane?" He asked. "Why not Cole?"

"I told you." I snatched the chain from his fingers and tucked it into my shirt. "It's not like that. I needed a companion, and Zane stepped up before I even realized that I was lonely. He is a friend, not a boyfriend."

"And there's a difference?" Kai asked.

"Of course," I nodded. "Men are excellent companions for women. If it leads to romance, so be it. But in my opinion, it is good to have men around in other ways than just romanticized pursuit. They're less emotional, stronger, and oftentimes much more level headed."

Kai snorted. "I'll agree with you on those three points, I guess."

I pointed a finger at him. "I wasn't talking about you. If you were any of those things, I wouldn't be saying 'oftentimes.'"

Kai pushed me off of his lap with a laugh. "Get out." He said playfully.

I fell to the floor with a yelp and laid flat on my face, caught between a laugh and a moan of pain as my head continued to pound.

Kai leaned over the side of the bed and looked at me. "You okay?"

I rolled onto my back and glared at him. "Fine as a daisy."

Kai offered me a hand. "In the path of a forest fire."

I took the hand and we worked together in getting me to my feet. "The fire was your fault, wasn't it?" I countered once I was standing.

Kai let out a chortle and threw his pillow at me, then pointed at the door. "Out. Don't forget to shut it behind you."

I dodged the projectile and darted out the door, shutting it behind me with a loud bang that echoed down the hall. I winced as the sound blew through my mind like a bomb.

I fingered the chain on my neck as I mounted the steps to the deck. I entered the dining room and was assaulted by a wave of smells. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. The scent of frying eggs now doubled with the bacon fat scent, making me feel nauseas once again. I steeled myself and pressed my hand onto my stomach, as if it would help with the pain, and pushed open the kitchen door, peeking inside. Zane had his back turned to me, his attention on the two pans of eggs and potatoes he was frying. Lloyd was nowhere to be seen. _Good, _i thought. I was not ready to reconcile my actions earlier.

I stepped inside quietly, deciding to practice the silent stepping techniques Zane had taught m a while back. I tiptoed up behind him, marveling at how Zane walked like this all the time out of habit when it took so much mental energy for me to focus on a few steps.

Zane turned around and regarded me cooly. His eyes examined my face, and he quickly took on a pained expression. "Nya," he said softly, dropping the spatula onto the counter.

I was disappointed that he had heard me. "What?" His face confused me. It was as if I had said something mean, and he was about ready to go hide in a corner.

Zane shook his head, his sharp eyebrows moving close to his gentle blue eyes. "You look more beautiful without that fake mask of makeup."

My mouth opened in protest, then shut automatically. My fingers found my hair, and I started playing with a few strands. "I do not."

Zane ran for the towel on the floor, and he soaked it in the sink. He handed it to me and smiled encouragingly. "Yes you do, Nya. Please," he handed the towel to me. "I was trying to say it earlier, but you broke down before I could." The smile remained fixed on his fair lips as they moved to form syllables. "The most beautiful I had ever seen you was that day when you were sitting in the kitchen, eating my cooking with a pretty natural blush on your cheeks as you tried to convince me you were full." His pale face colored slightly, a change that almost went unnoticed. "You should be more confident. Anyone who tells you that you're no good without that black and red paint can answer to me." His thrust his thumb at chest to drive his point home.

I hesitantly took the towel and looked at him with doubt, somewhat incredulous. What Zane was telling me now went against everything I had ever heard my whole life. Cosmetics improved appearances. Zane seemed to view them as an obstacle, and something to make a person less attractive. I took a deep breath and let it out as I wiped my face clean of the mascara and deep red lipstick I had applied not even ten minutes before. I pulled the towel from my face and was surprised to see Zane staring at me distantly, much like Jay used to. He took the towel from my hands and gently wiped away the spots that I must have missed.

When he was finally satisfied, he tossed the rag aside and beamed. "I did not mention," he said softly. "That day a month ago was the time you had looked the most beautiful, but..." he took my hand and blushed.

It was comical. I had never seen him blush before in my life.

He cleared his throat and continued. "Right now beats even then by a landslide." I was impressed by how evenly he kept my gaze.

I was sure my face was some dark shade of crimson as my eyes found the floor, and I smiled. "I think your food is burning." I said eventually.

Zane let go of my hand and nodded. "Yes, of course." He turned to the stove and flipped a hash brown cake, and then stirred the scrambled eggs. Both were slightly more browned than they were supposed to be, but still quite edible.

"I think the food is done now," Zane said as he grabbed two large plates. He scooped the eggs onto one, and the potatoes on another, then handed one plate to me and gestured toward the door. "Let's go," he pushed the door open and held it for me, then we both put the platters on the long table. Zane ran back into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a stack of plates and cups. "Can you get the orange juice?" He asked.

I nodded and ran to the fridge. I found the carton of juice and pulled it out, then put it on the table. "Hey, Zane," I began, twirling my fingers through the necklace chain.

Zane looked at me and smiled. "Yes?" He situated a fork next to a plate.

I took a step forward and grabbed the spoons, pulling my finger down from my neck. "I'm sorry about earlier," I said quickly. "I shouldn't have snapped at you guys and acted all angry."

Zane shrugged. "Don't dwell on it, Nya, I am not upset."

I nodded. "Thanks." I paused, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but sensing that something needed to be said. "And one more thing," my throat had a hitch in it, and I cleared it quickly. "I'm sorry, Zane, but I'm not ready to another relationship yet."

Zane looked surprised. "What gave you the impression that I wanted that?"

I paused, confused by his reaction. "You are doting me even more that Jay used to," I set a spoon down next to a plate. "You are cutting into your rest to make me more comfortable, making me an early breakfast at four thirty in the morning, and a multitude of other things. Don't get me wrong!" I said quickly. "It's just that if someone didn't know any better, they'd think you were trying to impress me."

Zane adjusted the position of a fork and continued his circle around the table. "I am only trying to make sure you are comfortable," he said. "I cannot lie. I have felt the urge to make romantic approaches on more than one occasion, but that is not what inspires me to serve you." He was finally satisfied with his work and sat down on the bench across from where I stood.

He traced the wood with a finger and continued in a gentle tone. "You have had a gap in your life since that day," I could tell he was trying to be careful not to set me off again. He smiled warmly and ran his finger around a plate. "Ever since then, Kai has been giving you less attention than he used to. And without Jay, you have been lonely. I'll be the first to point out that there are no other girls on board this ship for you to talk with on a regular basis," his body moved with his short laugh. "And in case you were wondering, I am not lying about you being absolutely beautiful. But I don't mean it in a romantic way. It is a compliment." His eyes met mine with sincerity. "And when I say it, I am not exaggerating."

My face colored again. It was true that I had been feeling lonely ever since then. Jay had always been around for a hug, and always willing listen to me talk, though he usually ended up interrupting. And when he died so suddenly, it was as if a gap had formed in my peace and well-being.

And Zane was right about Kai as well. He had definitely been more distant since then. The others didn't seem as heavily affected as me and my brother, though anyone could tell that Jay's absence was not lost on them. Cole and Lloyd grieved, just in more intimate ways.

I sniffed and realized that in the few seconds that my mind had wandered, I had begun to cry again.

I sunk to the bench opposite of Zane and buried my head in my hands, sobbing silently. I felt arms around me a moment later, and fingers began rubbing my shoulders. I let Zane touch me, knowing it would eventually help calm me down. I took a deep, shaky breath and let it out, determined to keep my lungs pumping air. _In, out, repeat. _Why was Zane putting up with this? _In, out, repeat. _

Zane chuckled. "Slow down, Nya. You'll faint." His fingers ran up the nape of my neck and back down again slowly, in a tight circular pattern.

I slowed my breaths slightly, grimacing as my head pulsed. "Sorry," I said through a hiccup.

Zane ran his fingers down my spine, pushing on muscles in my tight shoulder area gently. "Don't apologize to me, Nya," he said with a chuckle. "Apologize to your poor brain. It's no wonder you have a headache. First not enough oxygen, now too much."

I moaned and managed a smile, tears dripping through the slight crack and spreading over my tongue, leaving a salty aftertaste. I breathed more slowly, calming my heart, alleviating the throb in my skull some, and slowly stopping the tears.

After several minutes, I finally felt calm enough to peek through my fingers at the table.

Zane's arms went around my torso. "It's okay, Nya." He said quietly.

I hesitantly crawled onto his lap, and slowly settled my head into his shoulder with some coaxing from Zane's arms. My fingers twitched, begging for something to hold onto. They eventually found Zane's fingers and clasped them tightly, as if my life depended on it.

I took a shaky, hiccuping breath in and let it out as I sunk deeper into his embrace. It was as if we were meant to go together like this. I fit into his arms so perfectly, it almost seemed predestined.

I closed my eyes and, for the first time in a month, allowed myself to truly relax. My head slowly stopped throbbing, and my body quit spasming from the sobs. I breathed deeply and let it out, feeling as though I could fall asleep on him. I realized that I had been living off of no more than five hours of sleep for several weeks now, and was exhausted beyond what I could handle without severe emotional instability.

My mind began to drift again as I laid in his secure embrace, feeling, for the first time in months, secure and at peace as Zane rested his cheek in my hair, and we both simply sat in silence for an undetermined amount of time.

I heard a pair of light footsteps enter the room and opened my eyes, but I was too relaxed to move anything else. When my eyes focused, I saw Kai standing in front of me, his arms hanging limply at his sides. I ventured to look into his gaze and saw a faint, sad smile. I smiled back before shutting my eyes again and giving Zane's hand a gentle squeeze. _What is going on with Kai? _I asked myself.

Zane's hand applied pressure a moment later, and he whispered into my hair. "You ready to eat?" His breath tickled my ear.

I opened my eyes again and sighed, not willing to get up. "I guess so." My voice came out as more of a moan than a coherent sentence.

"Liar," Zane said with a chuckle. "You are very relaxed, and I don't believe you'll be ready to get up for a while yet."

I smiled. "Nope," I sat up slowly, still clinging to his hand. "But sometimes we just aren't ready for-"

"The inevitable?" Zane finished with a smile.

I heard gagging, and saw Kai with a glass of orange juice, looking at us with wild eyes and a red face as he tried to get the liquid out of his lungs. He took a deep breath and spoke after a moment. "Nya," his face had an expression that drifted between surprise and laughter. "You guys are finishing each others sentences." He pointed his fork between us in an invisible line.

Zane and I exchanged glances. He looked slightly embarrassed and confused. He was probably wondering when Kai would attempt to impale him with the fork.

I let out a laugh and let go of Zane's hand. "Nonsense."

"Preposterous." Zane's right eyebrow lifted slightly higher than the other.

"Against all reason." I kissed Zane's cheek quickly before standing up.

"Utterly absurd." Zane blushed and touched his cheek.

Kai dropped the fork and stared at Zane, dumbfounded. "Now you're blushing." He scratched the back of his head. "What else will this day throw at me?"

A loud noise filled the air suddenly as Cole entered the dining room, singing loudly as he walked backwards. "You wanna be tough, better do what you can," he whirled around and shut the door, then jumped on his toes. "Just beat it!" His earbuds were attached to a player in his pocket, towel draped over his shirtless, sweaty form. Droplets of sweat clung to his unruly mop of hair. "Beat it, beat it ooh!"

"Stop!" Kai pulled at his hair and threw a spoon at Cole.

Cole caught it between his fingers and laughed as he tossed it back, hitting Kai square in the forehead. "Why should I?"

Kai blinked and grabbed the spoon, then began twirling it in his fingers. "Because that song is terrible, for one. And-"

Cole gasped, pressing a hand onto his chest, as if abhorred by Kai's words. "Kai," he said, shaking his head. "How dare you?"

Kai rolled his eyes, undeterred. "And stop walking backwards. You could run into something."

Cole drew the player out of his pocket and turned it off. "First of all, Kai," he popped the earbuds out of his ears and shoved the whole package into his pocket. "We've been over this. It's called a moonwalk. And secondly," he sat down next to Zane and began filling up his plate. "That is the King of Pop at his finest. Do not insult The Man."

Kai let out a sarcastic laugh. "I'll do as I please. Give me contemporary rock any day. That dude is so outdated-"

Cole slammed his fist on the table, making Nya jump back in surprise. Zane remained stoic. Cole growled. "Don't speak like that." His huge muscles rippled as he tensed, as if winding up for a pounce.

Kai held up his hands. "Sorry, I'm just more inclined to like the music that's not as old as Sensei Wu." _My brother is courting death, that's whats wrong with him. _I decided with finality.

Cole jumped up, and Zane grabbed his wrist. "Easy, Cole," he said, gently pulling on his best friend's wrist and pushing him back onto the bench. "If its any consolation, I enjoy listening to Jackson on occasion."

Cole rolled his eyes and sat down. "Not everyone can be born with a good taste in music." He continued dishing up his plate in silence.

I gave Kai a sharp glare, warning him not to counter the insult. I glanced at Cole's sweaty, shiny skin and cleared my throat. "Shirt and shoes for service." I said in an attempt at a lighthearted and humorous tone. I failed miserably, though Cole didn't seem to notice.

Cole paused and looked at me quizzically before he realized what I meant. He let out a laugh and stood up. "What's wrong?" He brushed his dripping wet hair out of his eyes and smiled. "Am I too handsome for you to comprehend at such an early hour? I've been up since six, you know, working hard at the seven hundred pound bench press for an hour."

I let out a short laugh, annoyed by what I was certain was a gross attempt at flirting. "For your information," I began.

"We've been up since four," Zane added.

I nodded. "Training and cooking breakfast for you lazy people." I pointed at him with a finger, then planted a hand on his sticky shoulder and turned him around with an involuntary shudder. His skin ha the same consistency as a salty slug. "At the very least, take a quick rinse so you don't smell like a dog."

Cole was too bewildered to resist my hand. He looked between me and Zane momentarily before shooting from the room and disappearing from sight.

I looked at my hand and shuddered as I went for the kitchen door. "Excuse me please," I pushed it open with my clean hand. "I cannot believe I just touched that." I went to the faucet and scrubbed my hands with soap, frustrated by the fact that Lloyd seemed to be the only male on this ship, Wu and Kai excluded, of course, that wasn't trying to gain my favor.

"Hey sis," Kai's voice sounded behind me, making me jump.

Kai let out a short laugh. "Sorry," he held up a spoon. "I just wanted to wash this before I actually put it in my mouth."

I grabbed a towel and raised one eyebrow at him, knowing him too well to believe it. "What do you want?" I asked.

Kai smiled and dropped the spoon in the sink. "I just wanted a moment alone before the day began," he said quietly. He looked into my eyes with an intensity that puzzled me, before I remembered that I wasn't wearing makeup.

I coughed. "You okay?" _Just keep on staring, people,_ I restrained myself from saying out loud,_ big news of the century: crabby girl with no __makeup._

Kai shook his head. "No," he whispered. "And neither are you." He suddenly threw his arms around me in a tight embrace.

I stood paralyzed for about three long seconds before hesitantly embracing him back. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he did the same on mine.

"Well this is nice," I said after a minute. My breath tickled his ear. "What's the occasion?"

Kai sighed shakily and squeezed me tighter. "Men need hugs too, you know," he said eventually. "You could say that I got jealous, seeing you with Zane a few minutes ago." He chuckled sadly. "I've been replaced."

I closed my eyes and let a tear fall, more out of sudden emotion from my brother's openness than my own depression. "We can stop it, if you want. But there's no romance, I assure-"

"Don't deny it, please." Kai cut me off. "I'm not angry." He grabbed my shoulders suddenly and held me at arms length, tears glittering in his eyes. He was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Just give it at least a year before you get serious, please. Your emotions are in overload right now."

I nodded slowly, wondering at his change. He was accepting this better than I was.

Kai sighed. "Nya," his voice was barely above a whisper. "Remember, you are not the only one hurting in Jay's absence." He sniffed. "Though you were closer to him than most of us, we all loved him dearly. We are all in need of love right now, Zane especially." He paused. "You remember how hard it was when mother and father died. But at least we had a five year gap between them." His voice was so quiet I had to still my breathing to hear it. "Zane lost his one and only relative a mere two years ago. It is still fresh in his mind." He paused. "And I think he blames himself for Jay's death."

I was perplexed. "Why would he think that it was his fault?"

Kai blinked, sending more tears down his cheek. "Jay was killed by a Nindroid, Nya. Practically his brother. And remember, it was Zane who tried to save him, and failed. It's a safe bet that you have a tiny voice in your head, telling you that you could have done more."

I nodded, both agreeing with him and acknowledging that I understood where he was going with this.

Kai's nose twitched. "Then you can imagine what kind of a voice Zane has screaming inside of him, telling him what he could have done differently when Jay was bleeding to death on that table. And..." His eyes traveled to the floor before meeting my gaze again. "And me too. It was partially my fault that he got stabbed."

"He jumped in front of the blade, Kai." I said softly as the headache ran through my insides again and made me feel sick to my stomach. _Like the blade that ended his life...twisting...spilling..._

Kai sighed. "I know, but only because I didn't jump away in time. I just stood there..." His eyes trembled. "Like a coward as the blade dove for my body." He took a step forward and slid his arms around my neck. He rested his chin on my shoulder again, and began to sob quietly.

I stood still for a moment, unable to comprehend this new side of my brother. Kai was the one who had an impenetrable hide around his emotions. He had suddenly stripped away that barrier, and sobbed openly for the first time in his life. He had cried on multiple occasions, but what came out of his body now was so passionate and emotional that it made me pause and wonder what on earth could have triggered it. _A tectonic plate that took too long to shift, causing an earthquake?_ My hand found the back of his head, and I rubbed his head gently. I felt his hand come up and do the same for me a minute later, pressing my head into his shirt. _A fire that consumed too much fuel?_

I breathed in shakily, tired of holding my own emotions in check. I had tried to hold it in around Zane, but here, with my brother an open book, I felt no reason to not open up to him. I let my lungs off their leash, and they began to move unrestrained as I sobbed loudly into his shoulder. My tears were full of relief, sorrow and hurt, and the salty liquid felt wonderful as it left my body. I was sure that Kai felt the same way as he did the unthinkable. My mind still could not comprehend the fact that he was actually _crying._

After a long time, nearing on fifteen minutes, though I couldn't be certain, since I didn't have a watch, our breathing became normal again, and we slowly pulled away. I gave him a relieved smile, amazed by the amount of pressure that had almost literally flown off of my shoulders with the long cry and embrace.

Kai leaned in and kissed my forehead, wetting it with his tears. "I love you so much, sis." He said softly.

I smiled and took his hand, not bothering to wipe away the warm layer of salty tears that covered every inch of my face. "I love you too, brother." I looked into his puffy eyes and flashed a smile. _He's acting like he's thirteen again, giving me the support that we both needed when father passed. __  
_

Kai squeezed his hand and pulled me over to the sink. We washed our faces quickly and dried them with a towel. We glanced at the door.

"I hope they weren't waiting for us," he said with a light laugh that sounded oddly strained.

I pushed open the door and walked through. Four sets of eyes stared at us for just a moment before, one by one, returning to their plates. Lloyd broke my gaze first, then Cole. Sensei Wu wasn't even paying attention to us by the time my eyes tried to locate his. He paid us about as much attention as he might have if we had just gone to grab napkins.

I looked at Zane and paused, transfixed by his uneven gaze. Kai was right. I didn't know why I hadn't seen it before now, but his bright blue eyes were trembling and full of guilt. _Guilt for the supposed crime he thinks he's committed? _He broke the gaze first, and began to pick at his food with his fork. The silence ate away at the room like a parasite.

I pulled Kai forward and sat down next to Zane quietly, and he instantly jumped up and started to fill my plate. I reached out and grabbed his white shirt, making him stop and look at my questioningly. I shook my head. "Thank you, Zane." I said quietly, loathe to break the silence. "But I can serve myself." _Whoops._

Zane frowned at me and shook his head. He adamantly ignored my sigh of protest and filled my cup with juice.

I smiled and nodded. Zane never ceased to amaze me with his attitude toward work and servitude. "Thanks." I dug into the potatoes with my fork.

Zane nodded and forced a smile. I met his eyes again, and his expression seemed to be asking me, _'what happened, Nya?'_

I leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "I'd like to talk with you in my room after breakfast."

Zane nodded slowly and continued picking at his plate.

I lifted a bite to my mouth and realized that I wasn't really very hungry at all. I sighed and set down my fork. I looked around the table and was not surprised to see that everyone looked about as hungry as I was.

It was the same scenario almost every day now. No one wanted to say it out loud, but meals without Jay were depressing and quiet.

I glanced at everyone in turn. Kai, puffy eyed and sniffing lightly, was being observant, as was I.

I quickly looked away from Kai's face before we could make eye contact, and my eyes found Lloyd. He had his chin in his right hand, and was picking at his food with a fork his left. I stared at his hand a moment before I remembered that he was right handed, then shrugged it off, my eyes traveling once more. Cole seemed to be the least affected of all of us. He was eating slowly, all of his attention on the meal. I suspected that he kept his eyes down out of fear of making contact with someone and breaking. Finally, my eyes rested on Zane. His mouth was pulled in a thin line that, aside from the eyes, made an emotionless mask. But masks can hide a lot, looking at the hole for the eyes can tell you that much.

His eyes found mine, and I looked away quickly. I cleared my throat. "So," I grimaced as my voice shattered the silence rudely. Everyone looked at me. I fidgeted and continued. "What's the agenda for today?"

Cole set down his fork and hesitated. "I think we were going to just hang out and wait for the Nindroids to make a reappearance. As we all know, they have cloaking abilities, the Bridge can't see them. So we wait until someone calls us, then we fight them off before they kill more civilians." His eyes darted to the wall to his left, then to his plate. We all knew that he was thinking of more than just civilians that had been killed at the hands of those androids. His fingers fidgeted and picked up the fork again. He started playing with his food, making little mounds of potato and egg all over his plate. "But I don't think we will have an attack today."

Lloyd set down his fork with a sigh. "I'll clean up. You guys can go hang out." He stood up and grabbed his plate, which still had at least half of a serving on it, and went to the kitchen.

Kai stood up as well, but left his plate at the table, and went in the opposite direction. He slid the door open and walked out onto the deck. I looked at Cole, who seemed intent on at least trying to finish his food, then at Zane, who made eye contact with me almost instantly, and we nodded at each other. We stood up as one and walked out onto the deck, where a chill autumn breeze blew gently through my hair.

Zane grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. "Nya," he said in a soft tone. "I know a better place than your room, if you want to talk." He pulled me up the steps to the Bridge level, then hoisted me up onto the roof. I gave him a hand up, and he sat down promptly in the middle of the roof. He gestured for me to sit on his lap, so I tiptoed over the wooden planks and nestled myself in his arms comfortably, resting my head against his collarbone.

Zane rested his chin on my head and wrapped his arms around me. He took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly through his nose. "What did you want to talk about, Nya?"

I gathered my thoughts in a jumbled, mixed-up pile and tried to sort them. After a minute, I found some words that would at least start in the direction I intended. "How are you doing, Zane?" I asked, listening to his heart beat inside of his mechanical chest.

Zane blinked and pursed his lips. "Excellent, thank you."

My heart sunk into the pit of my stomach. "You can't even be honest with me?"

"I was under the impression that you and I were exchanging pleasantries. It is good manners to say-"

"Zane," I cut him off. "No, I am not...we are not engaging in polite conversation. I asked you how you were doing, now please give me a truthful answer."

I felt Zane's chest stop moving as he ceased breathing and held perfectly still for several seconds. I was afraid that I would need to learn that chest compression trick on the fly when he took a breath, and exhaled through his mouth.

"How do you want me to answer," he said after several breaths in this manner. "What is there to say?"

I closed my eyes and put my hand on his chest near my head. "A lot, brother."

"I don't need to talk about myself," Zane said. "I am an android. No real feelings, no real emotion."

His tone shocked me. He didn't sound sad or angry in the least. He said it as if it were a casual, passing comment, in a tone much like one might use to talk about the weather.

Zane continued. "I don't matter, Nya. You, and our brothers, and all of Ninjago. That is what matters, not me."

His words drew a fresh wave of tears from my eyes. My hand slid up and found his neck, and I rubbed it gently, still listening to his heart beat steadily in my ear. "Oh, Zane," I sniffed.

Zane let out another breath through his nose, tickling my hair. "Yes?" He rolled his head to one side and rested his cheek in my hair.

I ran my fingers up and down his neck and shoulder, just like he did for me frequently. "Please don't say that, you know it's not true." My vision blurred. "You have always meant a lot to us. Even before we knew about your origins, we loved you as a brother." My lip quivered. "Why would knowing make us love you any less, or obligate us to treat you as a lesser being?"

"Because I am a lesser being." He said, his tone suggesting surprise, as if it was beyond reason or logic to count him as an equal.

My hand tightened around the back of his neck, and I hugged him tightly as I began to cry._ A good day to not wear mascara, I suppose. _

Zane didn't seem to mind the pressure on the nape of his neck. He cradled me gently and made hushing noises as he rocked back and forth. "Please, Nya," he said in a pained voice. "I find this a most unusual time to begin to cry. What is the matter?"

_Now_ he sounds upset. Not before, when he was talking about how worthless he thought he was, but now, when I am crying.

I let go of his neck and let my arm fall limp on my lap, where it eventually found its way up my torso and grabbed the ring. I began to twirl it in my fingers as silent sobs wracked my body. "You," I said. "You're what's the matter. You treat yourself like garbage. It pains me to hear you speak like that."

"I'm sorry," Zane said quickly. "If it will make you feel better, I will keep those facts to myself."

"No, Zane." I sat up and shivered as the breeze came between me and Zane's body heat. I grabbed his chin and pulled him close to my face, so we were mere inches from touching noses. "Keeping those kind of thoughts to yourself is worse than saying them out loud." I whispered. "You are treasured above everything else I have in this world, Zane. You and all my other brothers." A large tear dripped down my cheek and fell into Zane's hand, which was limp on his lap.

He pulled his face out of my fingers and looked at his hand. He held it up between our faces, and the tear froze on his palm as he used his powers. He clenched his fist around the tiny translucent crystal and smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Nya." He whispered. He wrapped his arms around me, his hand still clenched around the tear, and kissed my cheek gently. His arms squeezed me tightly, and I clung to him as if I would fall if he let go.

I felt his cold hand on my back, and a question popped into my mind. "Why are you preserving that tear?" I asked in a whisper.

Zane let out a broken chuckle. "The same reason you preserved Jay's final gift to you."

"You mean the ring?" I recalled the shiny golden band that I kept on the chain around my neck.

"Yes," Zane said. "The ring for you is a permanent reminder of Jay, and of his love and sacrifice, am I correct?"

I nodded, my chin rubbing his shoulder. "Yeah," I sniffed. _And a billion happy memories of ages past, when our team was complete. _

Zane nodded. "Your gift to me will me a permanent reminder of your words." He pulled away from me and held out his icy cold hand, presenting a perfect, circular orb about as small as a pin head.

I picked it up and rolled it between my fingers in wonder. "How did you do that?" I marveled at the cold tear, which showed no signs of melting as I held it in my warm fingers. I placed it back in Zane's open palm, and his fingers once again closed around it.

He opened a small pocket in his kimono and carefully placed it inside, then fastened the hole again with a grin. "Honestly, I didn't know I could until I tried," he said softly. His eyes sparkled with a light that I had forgotten he even possessed. Since his father's death, the light had been weak, and at times almost nonexistent. Jay's death had then quenched it entirely.

But now, his blue eyes were suddenly alight with joy and humor as he gave me another quick hug and laughed. "You have no idea what your encouragement means to me, Nya," he said in a vivid tone. "I have been going through so many difficulties lately, I thought I might run out of room to keep them all."

I sunk down into his lap once again, placed the back of my head on his chest, and grabbed his hands as they wrapped around me. "They say talking about things that disturb you will help overcome your fears," I said with a grin.

Zane chuckled. "Do they now?" His voice had a hinting of mock scorn as he added, "as if you would understand my problems."

I looked at the sun, which was hanging a pale yellow and low on the horizon, signaling winter's approach, and telling me that it could have hardly been eight in the morning. I smiled as I felt Zane's heart beating through his kimono, and realized how lucky I was to have such a wonderful family.

I closed my eyes and let the heat from Zane's body warm my shivering skin. "Zane," I said softly, "I think I understand how you feel better than you may think."

* * *

**It's only been a month, so of course they acknowledge no romance. They rather adamantly deny it as well, which I find rather humorous. Don't worry, I promise a more romance in the next chapter. I will, in later chapters, have their proposal as well! (Yay!)**

**(NO. I will not kill him, geez. What gave you that idea?)**

**...**

**...Oh...**

**Well, please review. Constructive criticism appreciated, tell me if a word is misspelled. And I have a spellchecker that may have changed some words into completely different ones. (Don't you hate it when that happens?) Grammar instruction is also appreciated. **

**Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, all the usual. Blah blah blah. **


	2. Head In The Clouds

**I was going to wait to post this...but it's Valentine's Day! Enjoy.**

**Update: This is ****rather humiliating... LOL I had an [italicize] thing near the end, my apologies to any of you who were unfortunate enough to catch that. It's fixed now.**

**Oh my Overlord. Okay, so I went back the same day and fixed that italics problem. I go back a month later and re-read it, and it's still there! **

**How ****embarrassing! **

* * *

The snow was glistening white on the ground, a beautiful blanket that covered the forested ground in fractals of frozen water, shining iridescent in the waning sun. Pink, orange, blue and silver made the landscape seem picturesque, and just a little romantic as the colors lit up the distant mountain peaks.

Nya's boots crunched through the snow as she trudged forward, her gloved hands shoved into the pockets of her downy orange coat. Her muffler did little to aid her in retaining warmth as her breath rose in wispy tendrils above her head, disappearing into the frosty air. Her nose was frozen and bright red from the biting breeze that threatened to strip her of her body heat entirely.

She sighed and stopped for a moment, taking in her surroundings. Why couldn't the snow be a warm weather thing? Screw green leaves and flowers, snow was so much prettier. She shivered and rubbed her fingers together, trying to regain some warmth. Yes, snow would be a wonderful thing if it were only warm.

Nya scanned the trees, looking for the spot Zane had told her to meet him at. She pulled up her sleeve and pressed a button on her watch. A hologram of a map appeared in front of her face, with a steady blue dot and a flashing red light that was almost on top of it. She zoomed it in and smiled with relief. Finally. After miles of trudging along, she was getting close. She pushed the button again, dissipating the hologram, and she pulled her sleeve down again. Her hands found her pockets again as she took a step forward.

A cold explosion hit her back, and she went rigid with a gasp. "Zane!" She exclaimed as laughter filled the void behind her. "That's not funny." She shook the snow out of her hair and turned around to face the man, who was still chuckling lightly.

Zane was beaming warmly, his lips curling handsomely over a set of teeth so white the snow seemed almost yellow in comparison. He wore a blue wool hat over his head and ears, with its matching scarf wrapped loosely around his neck and draping down his shoulders over a white coat. His hands were pale and ungloved, a thing that would seem strange if you didn't know that he was the master of the ice element. Warm or cold, it made no difference to him. He was at home no matter what temperature the air was.

His hand slid into her gloved one, and their eyes locked.

Nya scowled. "I didn't come all the way out here to get a whitewash."

Zane's smile faded, but only a bit. "Sorry," he forced himself to keep her gaze.

Nya rolled her eyes and pulled him closer to her body. "It's fine." Her arm went around his torso. "I'm cold."

Zane wrapped his arm around her and held her close to his body with a chuckle. "I've got just the thing. Follow me." He took a step forward, waiting patiently for he feet to follow.

Nya sighed contentedly as their heat combined kept at least the one side of her body warm. "What is it?" She asked.

Zane guided her around a group of trees, and Nya let out a gasp of surprise and delight. "Oh, Zane..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at the scene before her.

Whatever has seemed picturesque about the landscape before was dwarfed by her friend's masterpiece that lay before them. A large tree sat in the middle of a small clearing, and everything was covered in an even layer of snow and ice. _The ice..._

She hugged him tighter and fought the tears of ecstasy that threatened to blur her vision of the beautiful sight. Tiny icicles dripped from every branch, catching the sunlight and refracting it in different colors all over the ground, and onto a bench made entirely of ice so transparent it looked like diamond. Several blankets were draped casually over the two-person seat.

"How did you do this?" She whispered, drawing her face away from the sight and looking up into his eyes with wonder.

Zane looked down at her and smiled. "Kai helped me. And so did Cole and Lloyd."

Nya's jaw dropped. "Wow, this is..." She laughed and gave Zane a squeeze. "Thank you, Zane." She said, "but what's the occasion?"

Zane looked nervous. His eyes darted around the clearing, to the bench. "I wanted to do something special, I suppose." He said pleasantly, pulling her forward.

"Well," Nya's face turned pink. "I'm going to have to do something for you now that I feel obligated." Her eyes lit up with good humor.

"No, please don't." Zane said, misinterpreting her tone. "This is not a competition."

"Of course not," Nya laughed and shoved him hard. "But this is."

Zane fell onto his face and spluttered as his face became coated with snow. He rolled onto his back, his blue eyes shining with good humor. "And we all know who will win," his hand was suddenly flying with blinding speed as he formed a snowball in his bare hands and threw it at Nya's legs.

Nya caught herself before she could fall backwards from the impact. Over two years of personal training every morning had improved her balance so much that at times she believed that Zane regretted it. She was much harder to beat when she had his skills.

She reached down and scooped up a ball of snow in her gloved hand, then shot toward his face. He rolled out of the way just in time, and a powdery mess erupted from the point of impact on the ground.

Nya jumped on top of him and giggled as she drove his face into the snow. "Yes, we do know who will win, don't we?"

Zane allowed her this victory, and laid limp, groaning comically as he closed his eyes to protect them from the icy flakes.

"Aww, come on Zane," Nya laid down on his back and looked at the back of his head. She swung her feet into the air casually as she rested her head in her gloved hands. "At least pretend that you're trying."

Zane turned his head around in its socket and stared at her with a wide grin. Nya suppressed a grimace. After all these years, the sight of him doing those unnatural things to his body still grossed her out. But she smiled and looked into his laughing eyes and grinning lips, ignoring the fact that his head was backwards.

"I don't want to try," Zane said. "I have got better things to do than pick fights that I would win." He got another face full of snow for that comment.

Nya got off of him and allowed him to roll onto his back and straighten his head. She stood up and helped him to his feet, shivering more than before.

Zane gave her a concerned look and smiled after a moment. He looped his arm through hers and helped her to the bench. He draped one blanket over the seat and beckoned for her to sit down.

Nya was impressed that the thickness of one quilt was able to put so much comfort into a bench made out of cold ice. She looked above her head, at where the icy formations that took on a spiky icicle form in other places in the branches gave way to marble sized orbs hanging from invisible strings. She was glad that he had the sense to not have the beautifully sharp formations hanging above their prone heads.

Zane wrapped a blanket around her shivering form and reached behind the bench for something. He presented a thermos of hot chocolate to her.

Nya took it, the grin still plastered to her face as her teeth chattered slightly. She set her jaw to prevent the clacking.

Zane sat down next to her with his own blanket, his mug held casually in one hand as he wrapped his arm around Nya's shoulder and hugged her closely as he took a sip.

Nya followed his example and tasted the drink. She hummed with contentment as the warm liquid went down her throat and heated her insides. She looked into Zane's eyes, then down at his smiling lips. A thought entered her mind. An almost irresistible urge. "Have you ever kissed anyone?" She asked in a whisper.

Zane seemed taken aback by this. "No," he said slowly. "You?"

Nya nodded. "Yes," a lump caught in her throat and she swallowed, looking away from his face. "Jay, a few times." Even after two years, the thought of him gone left a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. She licked her lips, trying to remember his taste. It was so hard to remember such details, however pleasant they might have been. "Why have you not kissed anyone before?" She asked after the wave of grief passed.

Zane was ruminative for a moment as he stared out at the waning sun, which was swift in its decent behind the mountain. "Because I want to save it for the right one," he said eventually.

Nya felt hurt and betrayal. She wasn't sure why, but his words cut into her heart. "I thought Jay was the right one," she said softly.

Zane nodded. "No one would have been better for you than Jay. But that is not what I mean." He paused again. "I have seen, through careful observance, that your actions with Jay have directly effected you. Because you kissed him, a part of you left with him. You were sealed like an envelope. His death was like someone had ripped the seal open, a broken shred of him with you, and a shred of you left with him." He hoped that his analogy made sense. "I want to make sure that I have the right partner before I seal the envelope, so I don't tear." He looked at Nya with a sad smile. "So I can be in one sound piece for my future partner."

Nya nodded slowly. She had heard of people who saved their first kiss, but she had never seen the point of it until now. His words shed a whole another light on what she thought she had known. She took another sip of the rich drink. "And how will you know when you've found the right one?"

Zane took a deep breath, his chest expanding and contracting slowly several times before he answered. "Years of watching her, how she handles herself, her character, the list could go on. When you feel that, after years of being friends, you could handle a lifetime together, that's when you act." His fingers drummed a beat on his cup. "You do it slowly, ask for counseling from wise friends and relatives, if they are available, and make sure they all think it is a good idea as well."

Nya's heart beat a little faster. "And have you met anyone who may be a potential candidate?"

Zane nodded casually. "Yes, I believe so." He smiled dreamily as he apparently brought her to mind.

Nya snuggled closer, trying to obtain more body heat from him. "Lucky girl," she said. "What is she like?"

Zane's upper lip and nose quivered. "A kind young woman, with a heart of gold. She is funny, a good cook, lacking in the area of patience, but has remarkable self control in other areas."

Nya's heart sunk, and she looked down at her mug. She did not see herself as any of those things, and was beginning to doubt that he was talking about her. "What do you see in our relationship?" She figured there was no harm in asking.

Zane chuckled. "I see us as old friends who need to get their heads out of the clouds."

Nya slowly drew away, feeling like her soul had been crushed. She had thought for two years now that Zane was waiting for her. And she had been waiting for him, not pursuing any other men since Jay's death. She had been patient, and her reward was nothing. She sniffed and wiped her raw, frozen nose. Zane was right, her head had been in the clouds.

She put on an emotionless mask and continued sipping her hot chocolate in dead silence, still inching slowly out of his arms.

"Nya," Zane's voice was pained.

Nya ventured into his hurt expression, her defenses nearly melting as she saw his eyes were no longer full of laughter, but were now serious and sad. "Yes?" She asked, trying to appear casual.

Zane reached into his pocket and drew out an object Nya could not see, because his fingers concealed it carefully. A tear formed in one eye as he looked at his hand, then up at her face, which was doing a poor job of hiding its true emotion. He let out a shaky sigh and spoke. "You misinterpreted my words," he said quietly. "We need to get our heads out of the clouds. We need to fly higher." He opened his palm a crack, and a pair of his mechanical butterflies flew between his fingers. They flew in a few lazy circles close to the ground before returning to their master's hand because of the cold. Zane put one of the yellow winged creatures in Nya's palm, and held one within his own hand.

He sighed again and put the creature back in his pocket before he stood up and turned to face Nya. He stared into her eyes steadily and, without breaking the gaze, dropped to one knee and drew his hand from his pocket with a small object in his steady, outstretched palm. He smiled, his perfect lips curling upwards at the sides. "Nya, I can think of no one else who I would rather seal my envelope for." He opened the small box in his hands and held it up to the stunned young woman. "Will you marry me?"

Nya's heart skipped a beat, and her hands found her mouth as she tried to sort her emotions.

_"Aww, screw this!" Jay's voice echoed in her mind, followed by a sigh. "Will you marry me, Nya?"_

Nya looked at the man standing before her and tried to convince herself. She wanted it so badly, had wanted it for years. But now that the time had actually come, she was terrified. When would the Nindroids come jumping out of the trees, swords in hand, to impale yet another victim?

She broke away from the glittering silver ring and looked at the trees wildly, her chest heaving as she tried to calm herself. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She blinked and looked into Zane's eyes, which voiced concern for her reaction. He closed the box and started to stand up and comfort her when she caught his hand and held it tightly.

"Zane," she whispered. Her heart beat like a drum in her chest as she forced herself to ignore invalid fears. "I...I would love to marry you."

Zane's face lit up in a relieved smile as he once again opened the box and took out the white gold ring, and pulled Nya's glove off of her hand, which trembled with fear and excitement. He put the ring on her finger carefully, tears brimming in his eyes as he looked up at her and smiled, sensing her hesitation was a result of a surfacing memory of her last proposal. "I promise," he said in a whisper. "I will do everything in my power to make sure this ring does not go on your chain." He stood up and embraced her tightly. "You will be safe, Nya."

Nya stood up and returned the embrace, her chest spasming as she cried tears of joy into his shirt. She clung to him tightly, ignoring the fact that she had lost most of her body heat when the blanket fell from her lap. She looked up into his laughing eyes and was rudely reminded of just how short she really was next to this man. Zane could easily look straight forward and rest his chin on the top of her head.

Nya laughed and stood on the balls of her feet to kiss his cheek, but Zane had to bend over for her to reach comfortably. He grabbed her firmly and lifted her into the air, his feet spinning in the snow as he did a complete rotation before setting her down again with a laugh.

Nya gripped his jacket tightly to keep from falling over when the world made a rotation on its own because of her dizziness. She sat down with a thump on the bench and pulled him down beside her.

Zane grabbed a blanket and pulled Nya up onto his lap, where she snuggled up in his arms, her head against his chest. To her slight disappointment, his jacket was too thick for her to hear his heart beat. It was a soothing sound that she loved more than anything to hear. One that calmed her down when she woke up every morning from a nightmare, or on those long nights before bed when the others were wasting time with video games or a kickboxing tournament, and she would escape the madness with him to watch a movie, curled on his lap, with the steady thump that often put her to sleep halfway through the flick.

Zane wrapped his arms around her protectively and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Nya." He whispered the words that seemed sacred and secretive.

Nya looked out at the sun, which had all but disappeared behind the snowy mountain, leaving a deep indigo and pink essence of tranquility and joy in the sky. She closed her eyes, holding the picture in her head as she took in his warmth and whispered back, "I love you, Zane."

* * *

**What do you think? I hope you enjoy this less depressing chapter. I'm almost thinking that this was too fluffy (but it could just be me.)**

**Please leave a review, and suggestions on what I should do with this cute pairing in the future. (Not as great as JayxNya, but great nonetheless, IMO.) **


	3. Bring Her Back

**I am so, so, SO sorry. The chapter that I originally had planned for lucky number three wasn't finished by my deadline, so I decided to whip up this little baby real quick, just to keep you satisfied. **

**So far, this is my plan for future ****chapters, (subject to change as I see fit!)**

**4. Adventure/romance-random action filler. About 8,000 words.**

**5. Romance/comedy-wedding. About 10,000 words.**

**6. Romance/friendship-adoption. About 15,000 words.**

**7. Romance/hurt-comfort-final chapter, Zane's choice. (I'll tell you at the end of this chapter, okay?) About 20,000 words.**

**So as you can see, this will be my last short chapter (hopefully!)**

**This chapter is a quick story about Kai and Nya's past, and will hopefully shed some light on a few different confusing things, such as why on earth Kai was cool with the Zane/Nya platonic relationship in chapter one. And my personal take on why Kai was against Jay/Nya for so many years.**

**Please review, and be patient with me. Better things are soon to come, I promise.**

**This chapter is hurt/comfort, rated K+.**

* * *

For Kai, the days had become a blur. He would sit in the TV room, legs crossed on the leather beanbag char, and play video games. He would kick at a training dummy until its stitches burst, and he would try to comfort his sister.

He was still unable to beat that high score. The one that Jay had erected not a week before his death.

"GaMe OvER". The voice sounded out with an explosion of light.

He watched the screen turn to black, then saw his name appear in slot number four. Jay was still untouchable.

The soft moonlight illuminated a clock on the wall. _It's after four, _he said to himself. _I should at go to bed, and at least pretend to be asleep. _He looked at the TV screen, with its annoying, repetitive soundtrack and lights that seemed to encourage seizures.

The realization dawned on him then. These games were rather pointless. Sure, they were fun. But what did they do to make society better? Did they save people? Did they do _anything?_

He tossed the controller absentmindedly to his left and watched it slide across the floor after a few good bounces.

Six days. It had been six long, hellish days since that picnic in the woods. Since the last time he saw Jay laugh...

...Since the last time he saw his sister smile.

He let out a loud sigh as he stood up and flicked a switch on the game console, then turned off the TV screen. Yes, it had been six days since he'd last seen his sister smile, or even look remotely less despondent.

He had been trying for days now to at least get a ghost of a smile on her lips, but to no avail. Not like he blamed her at all, because he wasn't exactly feeling all that chipper either. But it still hurt, seeing her so broken.

He spent more time with her now than he ever had in his life. Except, of course, for the few days following their parents deaths. He had given her lots of fondling then, as an older brother should. But he had been so caught up in trying to get his own emotions in line at that tender age that it was usually never more than a few minutes on his lap, then he would wiggle out of her grasp with some baloney about having work to do.

Kai blinked heavily, asking himself once again if he should at least try and get some sleep before everyone else woke up. Again, he discarded the thought and slumped back into the plush seat, staring vacantly at the moon through the round window as it illuminated the floorboards near his feet.

His mind began to wander again, and he thought of those days when he was ten, and his little sister would come running to him at the most random times, crying as if something was after her.

And indeed, there was something after her. Out to get her, take her and bury her deep into hopelessness. It was a thing he had been fighting off himself at the time.

Nya. His dear little eight year old sister, who's hair had always been tied back in long braids that fell halfway down her back, and who would wear a long nightgown that exposed tiny ankles as she pattered across the floor to kiss her mommy and daddy goodnight. Indeed, it had always been their mother who had done her hair and ironed all of their clothes, until a severe case of pneumonia took her at the age of thirty-four.

Form that moment on, Nya had looked up to Kai help her throughout the day with her chores, since father had always been busy with orders at the shop.

She would run into Kai's arms while he was in the middle of getting ready for bed, her long black hair in a bunch of tangled knots, and her nightgown very wrinkled. All in all, she would have a very unkempt appearance about her, until Kai got about the nightly task of straightening it.

Yes, Nya would come to him at night to help her button up those impossible little pearls in the back of her nightgown, and ask him to braid her hair. He would do it, of course. Although some days he felt nothing but impatience and irritability as he ripped through the tangles, he would do it.

After he had tied the last ribbon on the end of the second braid, she would always climb onto his lap and give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before making some witty comment about one day being able to braid _his_ hair, which at the time had been cropped closely and always kept neat and tidy.

Then the little girl would patter off to bed, only to awaken an hour later from some nightmare or another with tears streaming down her face as she groped for her older brother and held him tightly. Kai always had a habit of staying up an hour later than her, just so he could give her a bit of comfort before going to his own bed to sleep. In a way, it was his therapy. It was his way of dealing with the loss of their dear mother, his taking care of little sis. It just felt right, and it distracted him from the pain of loss.

But when father died seven years later, all of that changed.

Nya had, for the first week or so, allowed him to do his normal routine of braiding her hair and holding her on his lap.

But Kai could still call to mind that one day when he was brushing his teeth, glancing into the mirror every few seconds to see if she would materialize soundlessly behind him with the brush in her hand, her nightgown rippling at her ankles.

But she did not come. He remembered spitting the mouthwash into the sink with a feeling that something was off. He had gone to her room and peeked inside, calling her name softly.

Nya had been in the middle of cutting her hair short with a pair of dull scissors that left her infuriated because they weren't doing a good job of actually severing the strands.

His heart had sunken into the deepest part of his chest as he asked her what she was doing.

She had shot back a reply about not needing him to baby her anymore, and that she was going to grow up and be the woman of the family. No more brushing her hair, no more sitting on his lap, no more _anything _from big brother.

'Kai' had died that day. The day that she refused to let him help her. The day his therapy treatments came to an abrupt end. The day that Nya grew a fortress around her heart, and wouldn't even let her own brother in to see what was bleeding in the dark recesses of her mind.

The 'new' Kai eventually got the shop Four Weapons back on its feet, with the help of a few of father's old buddies, who were sympathetic of the poor little orphaned kids.

But that was just it. They weren't kids anymore. Kai was seventeen at the time, and was legally able to live without a guardian. So he had taken care of his fifteen year old sister, but from a safe emotional distance.

The 'new' Kai stopped trying to reach out to his sister, and let her shout at him when he offered to carry a load of wood, or grab a pot from a high cupboard.

He had let his hair grow out a bit, though he was always a bit lack in keeping it orderly. Not like he or his sister cared in the slightest.

He remembered the day that he had met Jay. The obnoxious little terror with too-good-to-be-true good looks and a perfect smile. It had annoyed him, the fact that he had basically tried to flirt with Nya before he even knew her name.

The fact that his sister actually _liked_ Jay had only made Kai's insides boil more. Nya had let Jay grow closer within the first week of knowing him than Kai had been in the ten years before then, right after father's death.

Yes, when he got right down to it, that had been the problem between him and Jay for all those years. The fact that Nya had chosen to let Jay hold her on his lap during the scary movie, hold _his_ hand to help her over the last boulder before the top of the mountain, kiss _his_ cheek before bed, while ignoring the brother who had always been there to do just that before the kook with the crooked smile changed it all.

Kai let a tear slide down his cheek as he looked away from the window. How far they had come since mother and father's deaths. How close to his heart the two still were, even after all these years.

How he wished that Jay was still here.

A scream filled the air, muffled and quiet as it filled the air for just a moment before disappearing. A feminine scream.

Kai jumped out of the chair, his pulse spiking. _I'm coming, Nya._ He ran from the room to go and give her comfort, feeling like a ten year old again as he ran to hold his eight year old sister, who had just woken up from a nightmare. The 'old' Kai reappeared in that moment, full of energy and life as he ran to the rescue.

He paused in the hall when he saw the silhouette. Tall, silent and moving fast, the shadow entered her room, apparently not noticing Kai, who was standing against the wall,with his jaw hanging slack.

_Zane? _

Kai tiptoed up to the door and peeked in, his mind in a million twisted knots as he tried to make sense of the mess before him.

He watched as Nya moved from her fetal position under the blankets and crawled onto the ice ninja's lap, crying softly as he rocked her back and forth in gentle motions.

Kai gave up on trying to make sense of it, and simply watched in a dazed confusion. _Zane was in there?_

His first impulse was to be angry and rip his precious sister from the Nindroid's arms. And he was about to, when a certain sight nearly startled him out of his skin.

Zane had whispered something into her ear, and a smile appeared on her lips, short and followed by a chuckle as she closed her eyes and dried her face on her sleeve.

_A smile!_ Kai backed away from the door and walked back to the TV room as quietly as possible. _Zane had made her smile._

Kai sat down on the bean bag and allowed a short grin to shoot across his face for just a moment as he let the image run through his head.

He did not care anymore, if he wasn't the one she drowned in tears. Zane had made her smile.

"Thank you, Zane." He whispered as he curled up in the beanbag chair. "Thank you for bringing her back."

* * *

**Again, I'm_ sorry_. ****I have fallen short of the bar I set for myself. This has ****disappointed me, but I am proud that from time of conception to launch, this chapter only took about five hours total. That's gotta be some sort of record for me.**

**Okay...now I will tell you what I have planned for chapter seven!**

**All credit for this idea ****goes to one of my very best friends, who shall remain unnamed because she has no account here on this site. (I'll call her Bob, just to keep things easier for you.) 'Bob' has been a little bit of a Zaya hater, so she came up with an idea to fix one of her biggest problems with my pairing, and she was gracious enough to share it with me. I shall not divulge the entire plot to you, but here's the gist:**

**Two little words: **

_**Zane.**_

_**Human.**_

**Thank you so much, Bob. She gave me an idea on how to change him that, as far as I know, has NEVER been used before on this site. And it's awesome. **

**Huh? What do you think? I am excited. At this moment, I have 18,000 words written into it, and I think I can say with some measure of confidence that it is one of the best _NJTWSIT_ things I have ever written. My little brother hates it, so it must be good. He hates writing that pulls at the heartstrings, so I must have struck a cord. (Pun intended.)**

**And yeah...you all caught that, right? I _AM_ working on chapter seven, but I'm not even halfway through chapter four, I haven't even started on chapter five, and chapter six is almost complete. I have a major ADHD problem here. **

**...So if you have ideas for how the wedding should go, leave a suggestion! First person or third? Zane's POV or Nya's? Or should I switch between them at different intervals? You decide!**

**Please leave a review, constructive criticism appreciated! **


	4. Not Again, Part 1

**I really hope that this doesn't seem too terribly confusing. I did my best.**

**No slash.**** It ****seems to me that some people get confused, mistaking my brotherly love for boyxboy romance. I don't write that stuff. Brotherly love is so much cooler than the other extreme.**

* * *

Zane sat on the roof in silence, eyes closed and lips curling upwards slightly as he took in the warm night air on the roof of the Bounty. A breeze blew through his hair, tousling it gently and bringing in a faint scent of damp earth from the forest far below him on the ground.

An alarm went off in Zane's system, and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Four o'clock, and time to start the day. He rolled onto his knees, then stood up with a couple of light stretches. After sitting on those planks for over an hour, he had gotten stiff in the joints. He stepped forward, humming lightly to himself as he went for the ladder.

His knees buckled suddenly, and he fell onto his hands with a stifled cry of pain. _A vision?_ He wondered as the grey light flooded his sight. _A powerful, perhaps terrible vision... _

One of the interesting things about being a Nindroid was that he was able to, at random times, get visions of the future. Sometimes about events that would happen years from now, to people he didn't even know, but mostly about things that would happen mere seconds into his own future.

Zane's heart raced, and sweat beaded on his forehead as he tensed, staring intently at the floor as he tried to get his mind under control. This was not a normal vision. His breaths came rapid and painful, and his heart had a sudden pinching sensation as he heard a loud scream. He couldn't tell if it was from the vision or his own mouth.

He fell to the floor slowly, unable to breath or move coherently anymore. He finally gave up trying to fight it and slumped onto the wooden planks of the roof, unconscious.

* * *

_Zane got to his feet with a slight tremble in his bones, though he couldn't remember why he shook so much. He looked at his surroundings, and realized that he was in the forest. The sun was just beginning to rise, dousing out the light of a few small stars as the pink light brightened the sky. __  
_

_A loud scream sounded behind him, and he turned with a gasp as his eyes landed on the red figure on the ground. A large black shadow loomed over the bleeding man, laughing maliciously as the sword went through his victim's stomach. _

_"Kai!" Zane's eyes grew wide with alarm, and he ran for the dark shadow over him. "Leave him alone, Cryptor," he shouted. He charged the Nindroid. _

_Another scream sounded behind him, and his heart caught in his throat. He pulled up short, then turned on his heels and ran for Nya. "I'm coming, love!" _

* * *

Nya woke up from her dream with a start, gasping for breath as she whirled around wildly. She felt her head, wet with sweat, and bit the inside of her lip to keep from screaming. She tucked her knees in close to her chest and started rocking back and forth, sobbing quietly.

Had that been Zane in her nightmare? She buried her head in her hands and cried a little louder as the scream came to her mind again. Outside of the normal scream from Jay that she always had before she woke up, she had heard Zane. A cry that was loud, full of agony and despair. it was terrifying, because she had never heard him make a noise like that before in her life. But it had undoubtedly been Zane's voice.

Nya heard a noise and looked up, fully expecting to see Zane's face appear. Every morning for over a year now, she had been suffering from nightmares that were as relentless as the desert sun. And as consistent as an ocean tide, Zane had never failed to be more than a couple minutes late in coming to her rescue.

Nya wiped her eyes and realized that the sound she heard had was not the door at all, but the air vent. She sniffed again, trembling like a leaf, as fears consumed her. _Where is he?_ She wondered.

She shakily put both feet on the floor and wrapped herself in a warm shawl. She walked out the door, not bothering to shut it behind her as she walked down to the boys room. She opened it with a light creak and peeked in, holding her breath.

She found his bed, neatly made with flawlessly straight and tidy sheets, and a perfectly centered pillow on one end.

She forced herself to exhale and stay calm as she slammed the door shut, channeling her panic into the energy it took to close it that fast. _Perhaps he is setting up the training equipment, or making their breakfast. No need to scream..._

_...Yet..._

Her bare feet made no sound as she ran down the hallway, past her room again, and into the training room. Her heart was lodged in her throat as she examined the gloomy room. _Empty._ She whirled her head around wildly and ran up the stairs to the deck, empty as well. She slid the kitchen door open, and found only darkness. No smell of sausage or eggs, or even the pungent scent of citrus from the fruit that he usually served as part of the snack.

She slammed the door shut and looked around the moonlit deck again, trying hard not to shout his name at the top of her lungs as she began to consider the possibility that his scream had been real, and not a part of her dream. _W__hat if he's not here anymore?_ A voice in her head suggested. _What if he's been taken?_ She refused to listen.

She heard a sound above her and jumped backwards, whirling her body around to face the sound, praying that it would be her fiancé. Her heart sunk into her stomach when she saw that it was only Zane's falcon.

The large black bird looked at her pleadingly from the roof, squawking anxiously as it hopped from one foot to the other.

Nya took a step toward it, then let out a gasp. _Of course!_ She thought. _The roof!_ Her feet flew almost on their own as she climbed up the second flight of steps and scrambled onto the roof of the Bridge. Her eyes darted wildly, and she let out a gasp when she saw the still form of a man, face down on the planks, arms crumpled beneath him.

"Zane!" She cried out, recognizing his blond hair immediately. She dropped to her knees next to him and gently rolled him face up. Tears welled up in her eyes as she pressed her thumb to his neck and searched for a pulse. "Please don't be dead, Zane." She managed to whisper. _Don't do this to me, not you too..._

She was rewarded by a steady thump under the skin, and she choked on a relieved sob as she tried to figure out what was wrong with him. So she had been correct in assuming that the scream she had heard had been real, and not a part of her dream. But if that was the case, why hadn't the others woken up? The only plausible explanation was that she was close to waking up anyway, and that her bedroom was nearer to the deck.

"Nya?" A voice called from below her on the deck. "Where are you?" An exasperated sigh followed. "What's the big idea, slamming doors so loudly at this hour?"

"Kai!" She exclaimed, clutching Zane's deathly cold, still body close to her chest. A loud hiccup escaped her throat. "Help, p-please," her body heaved as she soaked his hair with her tears. _Don't make me go through this again, love. _She pleaded in her mind. _Not you too..._ She repeated it over and over again.

She heard a scrambling noise, and Kai was beside her a moment later. Lloyd and Cole were right behind him.

Kai's jaw dropped, and he fell to his knees beside his sister. "What happened, Nya?" He asked, grabbing Zane's cold hand.

Nya shook her head. "I don't know, Kai," she said between sobs. "He is breathing, and his heart is normal. But he's not waking up."

Lloyd dropped to one knee and gently took the Nindroid from her arms with a frown. "He shouldn't be this cold," he said. "He must be using his powers in his sleep." He reached under Zane's legs and cradled the limp android close to his body. He had started to stand up when Zane suddenly went rigid, making Lloyd's eyes widen in surprise and mild relief. He set Zane down on the roof again and got onto both knees next to him, waiting patiently, unlike the rest of the group.

Zane inhaled loudly, his body spasming as his diaphragm contracted and released its air with one loud cough. His eyes flew open with a shout as he started panting, his limbs unable to move as he trembled like a fragile autumn leaf.

Nya wrapped her arms around him before anyone could stop her. "Zane!" She nearly shrieked in his ear as her crying fit continued.

Zane, wild eyed and panicked, quickly regained use of his arms and sat up, holding her tightly as he started to cry.

Cole and Lloyd exchanged glances. "Zane is crying, Kai." Lloyd whispered, breaking out of the earth ninja's gaze. "Like...the sobbing variety..."

Kai nodded and stood up. He took a single step forward, to where Zane sat, and touched his shoulder. "You okay, Zane?" He asked quietly.

Zane simply shook his head and buried his head in Nya's hair. His heart pounded in his chest as he clung to her torso with trembling arms. The vision replayed in his mind, and he only started sobbing harder, not very willing to let her go.

Nya squeezed him back and rested her head in his shirt. They sat curled in each others arms for so long, the others were casting fleeting glances toward the deck, wondering if they should leave. But curiosity won out, and they stayed.

Nya eventually fought through the sobs to speak. "W-what happened, Zane?" She asked. "Why didn't you wake up?"

Zane closed his eyes and took in the sweet scent of her hair. _She must have washed it with that special soap last night, _he thought vaguely. He sniffed and spoke. "I had a...a vision." He was reluctant, refusing to straighten his back and look into her eyes. He let her hair cover his flushed face gratefully. "I..." His heart was doing flips as he reluctantly voiced what needed to be said. "I need to go, Nya." He finally finished.

Nya let out a gasp and gripped his trembling body tighter. "No!" She exclaimed. "Go where?"

Zane inhaled and held his breath for several seconds before letting it out slowly, controlling the sobs somewhat. "Because if I don't, something terrible will happen." He reluctantly lifted his face and sat up, letting the warm, mildly humid breeze tug at his hair.

Nya looked up into his sad blue eyes, and at his flushed face. Her lip quivered. "Do you want to tell me about it?" She asked quietly, her fingers clasped behind his neck.

Zane hesitated, looking between the three concerned men, then back at her face. He shook his head once hesitantly, then again with more vigor. "No," he whispered. "No, I don't." He raised his voice as he slowly regained control over his emotions. He pulled Nya's fingers from his neck slowly and scooted away from her. _Don't tell,_ he told himself. _She must not make you tell, it would only shatter her already cracked spirit. _

Nya felt his icy cold hands grab hers, then... She bit her lip as another sob made her body convulse. He was _removing_ himself from her grasp, pulling away, as if he were afraid of her. She looked at him pleadingly as he let go of her and backed away. "What happened, Zane?" She asked again, her voice broken and hurt as she tried to scoot closer to him again.

Zane let her approach, and she eventually found her way to his lap again. His arms slowly rose up and wrapped around her, his chin resting in he hair as he took a breath so broken by spasms that it could have hardly been called a real breath. _Don't tell..._ He swallowed an egg that had lodged in his throat and spoke. "I need to change a vision." His voice was cracked. Swallowing had only made the egg get further wedged.

Nya wordlessly lifted up a hand and wrapped it around his torso, gently rubbing his back and shoulder in hopes of somewhat relaxing him. One of Zane's arm twitched momentarily before finding her other hand, held limp at her side, and clutched it tightly, weaving their fingers together.

"How?" Cole spoke up at last, tired of the silence. (A thing Jay would _never_ have allowed to happen. The man had hated awkward silence with a passion.) His green eyes shone with concern and worry as he took in the events of the last five minutes. "What vision?"

Zane was grateful for Nya's touch. It helped calm his nerves. He used the measure of control Nya had given him, and made a grim mask to conceal the weak spot he had left open since he had woken up. He set his jaw and answered the question. "I cannot tell you what I saw. It was too terrible to dare say out loud."

Nya sat upright and caressed his hair, running her fingers through the platinum blond strands as she hesitantly voiced the words of her heart. "Do what you need to do, Zane." Her voice was cracked and quiet. "I won't stop you from doing what you feel you need to do." She embraced him around the neck for a long moment, allowing the tears to drip slowly onto his shirt.

"Thank you," Zane whispered, hugging her back with as much fervor. He kissed her cheek and stood up shakily. He looked at each of his brothers in turn, then back at Nya. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I will be back, love." He turned on his heel and ran from the roof.

Nya leapt to her feet. "Zane?" She called down to the shadow on the deck. "Where are you going?" She stepped too close to the edge and started to fall.

Kai caught her arm at the last second and pulled her back onto the roof. "I'm going with him," he said in a quiet, firm voice.

Nya thrashed wildly and extricated herself from his grip. "No!" Her voice had risen to a high pitched squeak. "I need you!"

Kai put a finger to her lips and gave her a quick hug. "You need to stay strong, Nya." He whispered in her ear. "I love you, sis." He turned and ran from the roof, not even bothering with the ladder. He simply ran over the edge and rolled to his feet on the deck, leaving Cole, Lloyd, and Nya wide eyed with alarm.

* * *

Kai jumped over the edge of the ship, refusing to let himself look back at his sister, who was screaming his name out of desperation.

He peered into the trees, caught a short glimpse of Zane's white gi, and bounded after it. _Where is he going?_ He asked himself angrily. He was now unable to see Zane in any direction. "Zane!" He called out, pausing to catch his breath. _Four in the morning is too early for this kind of exercise._

He began to walk, easing the stitch in his side somewhat. "Zane, where are-" A cold hand clamped over his mouth, and his heart seized for a long moment.

A long chuckle sounded behind him, and he was turned to face General Cryptor, the hand still pressed to his mouth.

His eyes widened in alarm. _What is he doing here?  
_

Cryptor stood in the midst of several dozen Nindroid warriors, all of which had sadistic scowls on their black faces.

Cryptor's smile widened as he raised a hand to signal his men. "Change of plans, boys," he said with a chuckle.

A hard blow landed on the side of Kai's head, and he fell to the ground in a dark pool of blackness.

* * *

Zane's heart stung as he ran through the woods, away from the ship, and away from his fiancé. He wondered what she would do with herself with him running off the way he had. Not even a goodbye, not even telling them where he was going. _But if I had waited, it would be too late to stop it. _He told himself. _I cannot risk telling them where I am going, because that would only make them worry. __  
_

"Zane!" He heard Kai's voice behind him and pulled up short, panicked. _The fool will get himself caught!_ He thought to himself. He pursed his lips as he debated his next move. He could go back and tell that fool to shut his jaw, but that had honestly never worked before. Kai was almost as bad as Jay when it came to being quiet. _But what if... _He recalled his vision, with Kai on the ground, bleeding and dead, and made up his mind. He had to get Kai back to the Bounty before the Nindroids came.

He ran back the way he had come, following the sound of Kai's voice.

He heard a footfall to his left a moment later and stopped again, letting out a short gasp. He knew, just by the way the step landed that it wasn't Kai.

He leapt up a tree with the speed of a panther and crouched in the overhanging branches, heart beating wildly in his chest as he slowed his breathing. If the person making the noise was who he suspected it was, he did not want to be seen.

"Zane?" Kai ran through threes and stopped under forty feet from where Zane stood crouched in the tree. _Quiet, Kai! _Zane wanted to shout. _Go back before it's too late!_

Kai was breathing heavily, and his eyes darted around wildly in the waning moonlight as a figure crept up behind him. "Zane, where are-"

Zane watched in horror as a Nindroid became visible, and clamped a hand down hard on Kai'a mouth. He clenched his fists and let out a low growl as he watched.

This was _not_ supposed to have happened. Kai was supposed to stay safely on board the ship, protecting Nya and the others. Zane had not counted on the fact that the fire ninja would do this. The hotheaded ninja of fire was sealing his own fate with blood.

Zane watched with narrowed eyes as General Cryptor let out a laugh and said something inaudible. Kai received a hard blow to the side of the head and fell to the ground.

Zane cursed himself for his stupidity. What on earth was he thinking, running off into the blue without due warning, or even telling them not to follow him? Of course it had to be his bride's brother who would chase him down, and fall right into Cryptor's trap.

Zane hardly suppressed a shout at the thought. What would Nya do if her brother died? What would she do if he failed, once again, to save a soul close to Nya's heart?

He dared not think of what it would do to her brain as he slinked down the tree and crept closer to where Cryptor was talking to his men.

"...To find the ship and take it. Kill all ninja on board." The black general ordered as he swung his sword casually, rotating it in his wrist.

"What about this red one?" One of the Nindroids asked. He kicked Kai roughly with his boot, making Zane's blood boil.

"He is of no use to us alive," Cryptor waved a hand casually and laughed. "You can kill him."

"No!" Zane used his spinjitsu and changed into uniform, elemental blade in hand. He shot at the soldiers closest to Kai before they could react. "You will not take another brother from me, Cryptor!" He shouted angrily as his blade found the stomach of one robot with a loud crunch.

Cryptor turned to Zane, unconcerned by his enemy's sudden appearance. "You are are still mad about that, brother?" He spoke the name with contempt. Zane could tell that Cryptor saw him as anything but a brother.

The ninja of ice threw a punch at the general's face. "You took away my best friend's sanity, Cryptor." He hissed. "She still has not recovered from his loss. You cannot expect me to give up a grudge that easily."

Cryptor easily dodged the blow and countered with one in his opponent's stomach. "Zane," he said in a voice that seemed mildly condescending. "My own brother tries to hurt me." He reached down and grabbed Zane by the collar while he was still doubled over in pain. "The bonds of family only go so deep."

Zane let out a sharp cry of pain as his feet left the ground. Fire swept through his being as he struggled to breath. "Kill me, Cryptor." He hissed through clenched teeth. "Kill me, but leave Kai alone."

The general let out a wicked laugh and shook his head. "No, my dear brother," he purred. "I need you alive to tell the others the news of the red ninja's death."

Zane felt rage sweep through his being like fire, and he kicked his feet in a last minute attempt to free himself. His feet landed in Cryptor's ribcage, and the black Nindroid shouted in pain. He dropped Zane to the ground and doubled over for a long moment with no breath in his lungs.

Zane got to his feet and took in a deep breath, analyzing his surroundings. The forest seemed void of any life except for him, his opponent, and the ninja unconscious on the ground, but he knew that there was a multitude of Nindroids on all sides, using their cloaking devices to make them harder to find.

He made a dash for Kai and scooped the unconscious man into his arms and dug his heels into the earth in an attempt to escape. He shot forward like a dart, away from Cryptor.

He had not gone five paces before he smacked into one of the invisible soldiers. He fell to the ground in a swoon, Kai laying like a corpse on top of him, dead to the world.

He was dragged to his feet by Cryptor once again. The dark robot let out a low growl, the pain evident in his red eyes as he grabbed both of Zane's arms and held him fast. "Don't do that again, Zane." He turned to one of the invisible soldiers, which he could apparently see with his eyes, and shouted. "Skewer the red one."

The Nindroids immediately became visible, and one of them stepped foreword, drawing a sword from his sheath. "Yes sir," it said with a chuckle.

Zane's pupils contracted with terror. "No!" He shouted, trying as hard as he could to get free. But try as he might, the general was of stronger build, and clearer mind. Zane was about as dangerous to him as a fly buzzing around his ears. Something to be destroyed on a whim, not because it was a real threat.

The Nindroid drew his sword and held it above Kai's abdomen for a long moment, obviously deep in thought as it contemplated the best place to injure his victim.

"How about..." Cryptor said with a humorous tone. "Where you stabbed the blue one?"

Zane stood still now, his feet rooted to the ground, arms held behind him in a most unpleasant fashion as he breathed heavily. [Oh, what will I tell Nya?] Was the only thought that made its way through his mind. [Not Kai...]

The Nindroid nodded. "Yes sir." It landed with a sickening crunch in Kai's side, and the man woke up suddenly, screaming obscenities mindlessly as his hands found the hole. He was still in a daze, only vaguely aware of the pain.

"Kai!" Zane couldn't help himself. Tears streamed down his face as he screamed his brother's name.

Cryptor threw Zane to the ground harshly and kicked his side. "Say goodbye while you still can, brother." He teased. "We'll leave you two alone while we take care of business with your fiancé." He let out a laugh and ran into the trees, his army of Nindroids following in a disciplined line.

Zane fell to his knees next to Kai, his fingers trembling as he cried silently. _I thought coming here would prevent my vision from occurring,_ he thought. _But I am only making it worse. At least in my vision, Kai's death had been fast and painless..._

Kai trembled on the ground, his body slick with blood. There was a gaping wound in his left side.

He looked up at Zane with fuzzy vision, still delirious from his knockout, and even more so from blood loss. "What happened?" He asked in a strained voice.

Zane ripped off Kai's shirt._ It's happening again,_ his fingers trembled all the more as he drew the parallel between this circumstance and the one two years before. The only difference was that now, it was Kai on the ground instead of Jay.

Zane swallowed hard. "Nindroids," he managed to say, after a long pause. He looked at the wound. It was a smaller, cleaner cut than Jay's had been, less jagged and more like an ugly paper cut than a bear mauling. But it was still bad.

Kai let out a raspy cough and shut his eyes, trying to block out the pain. "Leave me," he whispered. "Go save the others."

Zane shook his head. "No, brother," he said firmly. "I will not leave you here to die."

Kai chuckled. His eyes, though alight with poorly placed humor, were glazed over. It looked like a window pane during a bleak winter, with a warm hearth inside, though all anyone could see from the outside was a foggy orange glow.

Zane pressed a portion of Kai's shirt into the wound. How could anyone be this cruel? If Cryptor wanted Kai dead, why didn't he just kill him? Giving a man a fatal injury like this, and then making his brother watch, was completely barbaric.

...Was completely Cryptor.

"Zane," Kai's words came out as a groan. "You heard Cryptor. He said he was going to hurt_ your _bride._ My_ sister. There's a good chance that he means to hurt the others as well."

"No," Zane shook his head. "Cryptor is only trying to break me, Kai." His vision began to spin as the portion of Kai's gi became soaked with blood. He ripped off another section and replaced the drenched cloth. "Yes, he means to kill all of us eventually. But he will do it slowly, starting with the ones who were closest to me, then working his way up from there." His eyes darted between the trees, where the Nindroids had taken off running, and his brother's bloody face. "You just ended up cutting in line when you chased after me."

Kai reached out with a bloody hand and grabbed Zane's collar. "Better me than her," he said softly. He pulled Zane so close that they were nose to nose. He was pale, the color of death, and his eyes were becoming distant.

Zane was sure that the man was now numb to the feelings of pain. He was too far gone to hurt physically. "Don't say that, Kai."

"Zane," his voice became more raspy, and his breaths sounded like he was gargling mouthwash. "L-leave me, save..them."

Zane shook his head in denial. "Oh, Kai." He whispered. "Please, no..." He felt the need to rip something apart when Kai's arm went limp and let go of his shirt.

The ninja of fire gave Zane a brazen, confident smile. "I love you, you stupid Nindroid." He coughed long and hard, resulting in a mess of blood from his lungs all over his chin. "Please, let me go." The voice was barely audible as his eyes closed.

Zane shook his head rapidly and opened his mouth in shock. "No, you can't do this!" He shouted. "Don't give-"

"Go!" Kai opened his eyes, which looked uncannily like Jay's did in this same circumstance a couple years before. He held up his arms shakily.

Zane leaned in and wrapped himself in the embrace, not caring that he was coating himself in blood. His brother's blood. "Goodbye, Kai." His body shook with the silent sobs. "I'll make him pay for it."

Kai let out a weak chuckle and closed his eyes. "Love, Zane..." He whispered. "Love f-first...hate whe-en all...else fails." His chest was spasming. "Tell...Nya I love her." He reached up with a hand and grabbed Zane's. He gave it a light squeeze. "I love you, and all...all our other brothers."

Zane squeezed back gently. "And I love you too, my brother." He stood up slowly, not wanting to leave, but knowing he had no choice. He had tarried too long already, and goodness knows how the others were faring with the Nindroids.

He let go of Kai's hand reluctantly and backed away, starting long and hard at his brother's broken face. Kai was not angry, as one would expect from a man who was being murdered in what could possibly be the most barbaric way ever, but calm, almost happy. Kai was happy to finally be going home.

Zane turned and bolted away without another word.

* * *

Nya watched as her brother faded into the forest and disappeared, shouting her fiancé's name as he ran.

"Zane..." She whispered through her fingers, which had found their way to her face as she sunk to her knees. "Kai..."

Cole's hand went to her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Let's go inside," he said softly. "Maybe we could track Zane's falcon." He scooped Nya into his arms and climbed down from the deck. Lloyd followed quickly.

Cole slid Nya onto a chair in the Bridge, still silent as a stone as he went to the computer and entered a few numbers.

Lloyd stepped up beside Nya and sat down. "Are you okay?" He asked gently.

Nya turned to look at him. "My second fiancé and my only brother just ran into the woods without warning to do something I can only assume will end in their deaths." She said in a monotone, slightly deadpan voice. She sighed heavily. "No, I am doing fine."

Lloyd gave her a stern look and shook his head. "Please don't treat me like a child," he said. He opened up his arms with a warm smile. "You know that I have more knowledge about your feelings than that."

Nya stared at his open arms for a moment, and considered going into his embrace. But something in her head warned against it, and she turned back to the large screen where Cole was working.

The ninja of earth let out a growl and banged his fist on the buttons angrily.

Normally, Nya would have gotten upset with the earth master's treatment of the keys, but she couldn't care less right now. She stared blankly at the 'error' that flashed across the screen and stifled a sob.

Cole turned to her and pursed his lips. His sympathetic green yes looked at her with a hint of desperation. "His falcon won't make contact," he said quietly. "I can't see anything."

Nya nodded. She had suspected as much. Zane usually turned off the falcon's ability to contact the Bridge when he did not want to be found. She bit her nail and watched the red letters on the screen become blurry with tears.

"So what do we do now?" Lloyd asked.

The team leader looked at the young man. "We can't do anything," he said slowly. "We don't know what they are doing, so chasing them down might compromise their plans."

Nya let her head sink into her folded arm on the cold tabletop. She stared blankly into the darkness and felt the tears drip down her cheeks and hands. Silent sobs shook her body, and she shivered with cold.

Warm hands touched her shoulders, and she jumped._ Lloyd? _The touch reminded her of Kai and...

She stiffened slightly. The energy that flowed through Lloyd's fingers was exactly like Jay. The master of lightning had always held a bubbling field of energy around his being, and touching him usually made a buzzing sensation shoot through your skin.

Nya began to sob harder, and she pushed his hand away. She could not allow this adolescent to bring back her dead Jay. It would not happen.

_Thunk._

She shot upright like a spring and gripped the table, suddenly in a panic. She couldn't see anything at all. Everything was a mixture of random colors that-

She wiped her eyes, scolding herself for her stupidity, and blinked. That was much better.

"What was that?" Lloyd asked as he slowly rose to his feet.

Cole stood rigid, his eyes darting wildly around the room. He forced himself to relax slightly and backed up, so he could see the computer screen. He pushed a button, and several red dots suddenly appeared on the screen. "Nindroids," he whispered harshly.

Nya stared at the computer in shock. That must have been why Zane left...

She leapt to her feet and reached into her pocket, where she kept a small dagger. It was nothing against the lasers and fists of the black robots (her fiancé's half brothers) but the feeling of comfort that holding the dagger gave her was more useful at that moment than any gun or sword.

It was the dagger Zane had given to her as a birthday present earlier that year. Not made of any precious metals, like gold or silver, but very beautiful in its own way. In Nya's mind, it was better than any other trinket he might have gotten her of greater value, because it came from the heart, and not the pocket.

There was complete silence in the Bridge for a long moment, in which the only noises were of Lloyd and Cole drawing their swords.

Suddenly, Nya felt a cold hand reach around her neck, and she squeaked in surprise as her throat constricted. She was unable to breath as she was lifted off of the floor, and she dropped the dagger with a loud clatter. The hand that held her was invisible.

"Nobody move," the gruff voice traveled through the room like a gunshot. "I am going to kill her no matter what you do, but I may leave you two alone for another day if you cooperate."

"No!" Lloyd shouted he lunged forward with his sword, but was immediately restrained by another invisible soldier.

Cole stood with his feet set apart, his sword still clutched in his white-knuckled fist as he stared at Nya in horror. Her face was steadily turning purple. "Please, leave her alone." He said. "You have no quarrel with her, take me."

Nya's vision began to dim. The pain of being held above the ground by the throat was almost more than she could bear. _No, Cole... _She thought to herself. _Please, just let me die._

"Stop!" A voice behind them spoke in the doorway.

Nya turned her eyes as best she could, and saw a blurry red figure-

_No, _she thought to herself with horror. _That's Zane, covered in blood! Kai's blood!_ She wasn't sure how she knew who's blood it was. Perhaps it was just pure logic. Zane didn't have blood, and neither did the Nindroids. Cole and Lloyd were here unscathed, so that left only her brother. _Oh, please just kill me now... _She thought with a nauseating amount of grief when no other forms came up beside Zane. Kai was not on the ship.

Zane strode through the door his elemental blade in hand as he glowered into the void around him, where he knew the Nindroids all stood. A single command from their leader, who held Nya in the air with invisible fingers, and they would all be dead.

He swallowed hard. "This bloodlust will get you nowhere, Cryptor." He said slowly. "Please let her go. You've already taken two from us, is that not enough?"

Cryptor laughed heartlessly and tightened his grip on Nya's throat. She could not breath at all now. She would faint in a matter of seconds, then be dead in a few more. "No," he growled.

Zane nodded slowly at the void behind Nya and pursed his lips. "Then take me," he said firmly. "Leave them alone, and do with me as you wish."

Cryptor's laugh intensified as he threw an unconscious Nya to the floor and became visible. The rest of his warriors did the same. "You want to be first to the chopping block, brother?"

"No," Zane shook his head in reply. "I do not ask for death, but whatever tortures you wish to put me through, for the rest of my life. Take me, but leave them alone. Forever."

"No!" Lloyd shouted again, fighting against the grip on his arms. "Zane, we can let you do this!" His voice was high pitched in his desperation.

Zane gave him a cool, even stare. "I can't let you all kill yourselves because of stubborn pride." He went to Nya with slow, deliberate strides and went to his knees beside her. "Do you accept, Cryptor?" He lifted the unconscious woman onto his lap and cradled her in his arms, quickly checking her vitals.

The Nindroid general's laugh had ended abruptly when Zane had elaborated on his terms oaf agreement. He stood silent for a long moment, weighing their values in his mind. He could kill them all, or he could take Zane and leave the rest of them alone. The lovestruck robot had a point. He had already killed Zane's two closest companions. The girl most likely wouldn't wake up again. What did he stand to lose or gain by killing more of them?

"I accept," he said slowly. "Let's go."

Zane looked down at Nya with a pain in his chest. Her face was now devoid of blood. The only color on her skin came from the ugly red and purple bruises on her neck.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek tenderly before standing up and placing her limp form in Cole's arms.

Cole and Zane locked eyes, and for a long moment, no one dared to speak.

Then, Zane took out his blade and set it on the table. "I will not be needing this," he said quietly. His voice was burdened, as if with a heavy weight that threatened to break him as he slid a tiny silver object onto the table beside the sword.

The moment his hands left the table, two Nindroids came forward and grabbed his arms. He did not resist them as Cryptor shouted orders, them turned to face Cole, who still held the girl in his arms. The general pointed with a finger out the door. "You may want to check for a body out that way, near the creek." He said with a chuckle before leaving the room.

Lloyd grabbed his sword from the floor and started for the open door.

"No, Lloyd." Cole said in a grieved voice.

The golden ninja paused mid-stride and glared at Cole. "That monster killed Jay and Kai, then took Zane!" He shouted. His green and gold flecked eyes glared at his team leader. "And he almost killed Nya. I am not going to just sit here while they destroy our brother!"

Cole stared back, fighting tears. "We cannot do anything to fight it, Lloyd." He said quietly. "Zane...is gone."

Lloyd's eyes widened in disbelief. "So that's it?" He asked in a broken voice. "We just...give up?" He put away his sword and went to the table. He stared blankly at Zane's blade. It had an unearthly red glow from the sticky blood. "We quit?"

He touched the blade with a single finger, causing the glow to intensify in reaction to his ice element.

Cole swallowed hard and looked down at Nya's deathly pale face. "A ninja never quits, Lloyd." He said with all the confidence he could find within him as he walked slowly for the door. He looked back for just a moment. "I'll bring her to her room, and you can heal her the best you can while I get Kai...his body..."

Lloyd nodded. "I'll be there in a minute," he said slowly. He turned his back to Cole and listened as his friend's footsteps fell into the background of his thoughts.

His eyes began to water as he picked up the blade. He briefly considered wiping away the blood, but dismissed the thought. This blade belonged to Nya now. She would decide if she wanted to wipe away her brother's blood or not.

He set it back down and caught a glint of light out of the corner of his eye. He looked down at the table and saw a silver ring. He felt his heart catch in his throat as he picked it up.

"Oh, Zane..." He whispered softly as the ring sparkled in the light of dawn. It was his engagement ring.

Why had he left it? Certainly not because he did not want her anymore.

Lloyd shook his head. No, anything but that, he was certain. He had left it as a memoir of his time with Nya, and as a final gift to her before parting ways, most likely forever.

A gift of love.

* * *

**Oh, I am so sorry...**

**I would not have broken this into two parts under normal circumstances, but I am still writing the other half. I am already almost a week late in updating, and I did not want you guys to wait any longer. So here...have a ****cliffhanger...**

**Please be ****gently with me, I swear that this will have a happy ending. **

**And PLEASE tell me if you find any mistakes! **

**And for those of you waiting for a chapter of True Grit, I do not think it will happen today. I have about 2,500 words written so far. I had a whole 6,000 words into it, but I did not like the way it was going, and began to rewrite it this morning. Uhg...**

**Constructive criticism, appreciated, please review! **


	5. Not Again, Part 2

**Okay! I have it done. And you can expect your bonus chapter of True Grit tonight or tomorrow. I feel accomplished. Yes, I will still be doing my Tuesday chapter, unless something comes up in my life that needs more attention than writing. **

**And yes, I am aware of how selfish Nya is. My goodness, I feel that someone needs to give her a good talkin' ta. LOL. **

**I really hope you like this chapter. I lost count of how many hours went into this project over the past week, but it's got to be over 24. **

**In the past week. **

**You're welcome. **

**You may find that I missed a few brackets, misspelled words, or even a 'horizontal line.' PLEASE tell me if you did, I find it extremely embarrassing. I copy and pasted this less than an hour ago from Werdsmith, so I 'speed skimmed' and found most (hopefully all) of the places that needed my attention.**

**And I can't claim to know more than the average person about wounds and other medical stuff. So please, don't be too critical as you read about the wounds. (Yes, there's going to be blood. Would you expect anything less from Astrid?) **

**...No, I did not just refer to myself in the third person...**

* * *

Cole walked through the woods, following the well-trodden path to the river, squinting his eyes against the rising sun that shined warmly through the trees. Birds were singing sweetly all around him, welcoming the sun with chipper salutations.

The master of earth sighed and let the tears run over his lids and onto his cheeks as he trudged along. His feet felt like they were made of lead, and each step left his toes dragging in the dirt.

_How could I have let this happen?_ Was the question that tormented his mind with every arduous step. He was the team leader. He was the one who carried the team. In one day, his burden had been lightened by the weight of two men, and he hated it. Carrying the guilt was far more difficult than carrying the teammates ever had been.

He heard the falcon cry out above his head, and he lifted his hand to his head to shield his vision from the sunlight.

The black bird was in a tree above his head, flapping its wings in a gesture that seemed to be waving the man forward.

Cole forced his feet to walk at a brisker pace, and he let his hand drop to his side as his eyes fell to the ground. He watched his feet fall, one after another, for several more minutes before the falcon cried out again, and he looked up.

The bird was on the ground, hopping from one foot to the other and keening mournfully next to a red figure on the ground.

Cole's feet suddenly were locked in place on the ground, and he fell onto his face. His hands saved him from a broken nose right at the last second. The bird flew into the air, startled by his sudden movement. It landed in the branches above his head and folded its wings in.

Cole sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve before pushing himself onto his knees. He examined the body before him with silent sobs.

Kai was just as Zane had left him, face up on the ground, shirtless, showing off the ugly wound. His skin was white under the shell of caked dirt and blood, which still oozed slowly onto the ground.

Cole blinked and wiped away the tears quickly. He leapt to his feet and ran to Kai's side. He looked at the wound. _It was still bleeding!_

He pressed his thumb gently to Kai's cold wrist and found a pulse. His eyes widened in surprise as he lifted his hand to the fire ninja's face, and he felt a warm current of air tickle it after several long seconds.

Cole nearly laughed in his relief. "Oh, thank God." He let a smile run across his face as he carefully lifted Kai's body from the ground. He needed to get Kai back to the ship before Nya woke up.

* * *

Nya felt her world brighten from a thick black to a grey, and she opened her eyes. Her head shot upright, and she let out a hoarse cry of pain.

"Easy, Nya," Lloyd spoke up beside her bed. He helped her lower her head gently back onto the pillow. "Just stay still, and don't talk. You've got some pretty nasty damage to your throat." He produced a water bottle from the bedside table and unscrewed the cap. "You want a drink?"

Nya nodded slowly and grimaced in the sudden surge of pain.

Lloyd smiled sadly and held it out to her. "Here you go," he helped her take a drink.

Nya could only take small sips, because her throat felt like it had been soaked in acid, then rubbed with sandpaper. Tears escaped her eyes, and she shut them tightly for a long moment.

"It took a lot of effort to keep you in this world," Lloyd said after a long, awkward pause. "When I first checked on you in your room, after Cole set you down, you were dead. The lack of oxygen apparently killed you." He stroked her cheek with a warm finger, in a soothing manner. "Nothing a little lightning couldn't fix, though."

Nya stiffened at the mention of lightning. _Jay..._

"You should have just let me die," She managed to say in a hoarse whisper.

Lloyd shook his head. "I wasn't going to do that, Nya." He said with a flat chuckle. "I don't want Zane to come back to that. I would hate to say that I didn't even try."

Nya's eyes opened suddenly. "Zane left?" She squeaked.

Lloyd put a finger to her lips gently and made a hushing noise. "No more talking, okay?" He pursed his lips and put his hand back on his lap. "Zane was taken by the Nindroids." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object. "Zane left this for you." He handed her the unadorned silver ring.

Nya held out her hand and let the ring fall into her palm. She held it up to her eyes and sniffed. _So he just gave up?_ She thought as she examined the bloodied object. _He thinks he's never coming back, so he leaves this here with me, thinking he won't ever need it again?_

She put it on her finger, even though it was several sizes too big, and held her hand to her chest. The ring make a faint clicking noise as it made contact with Jay's ring, which was on the chain about her neck. _Never again... _She told herself. _Never again will I put myself through this._

"He's not..." Lloyd spoke hesitantly. "He's not coming back, is he?"

"Who?" Nya said under her breath. "Kai or Zane?"

"Either," Lloyd said. "Kai is gone, but what do you think Zane's ring means?"

_What happened to not wanting me to talk?_ She asked herself. "Is Kai really dead?" She hardly even cared about the hoarseness speaking caused her.

"That's what Cryptor said," Lloyd spoke with desperation. "And why would he lie? He may be evil, but he never breaks his word."

Nya turned her head painfully and looked at Lloyd. Her eyes were full of tears that threatened to spill over onto her pale, bruised cheeks. "Leave me alone," she whispered. "I need to be alone."

Lloyd gave her a long, hard look before he nodded and got to his feet. He gave her an encouraging smile. "Cole will be back any minute," he said. "Come and join us when you're ready." He turned and left without another word.

Nya pulled the blankets over her head and let the tears fall as she played with the ring in her fingers.

Why was fate so cruel?

* * *

Lloyd wandered aimlessly through the house, staring at his feet and the walls in turn with blurry vision. He passed a multitude of photos that had been collected over the past eight or so years.

Five years worth of those photos had Jay in them. There were pictures of the romantic couple in almost every scenario, from cooking dinner to hiking in the woods.

Lloyd stopped and stared at a group photo. His fingers went over the dusty glass, making the picture easier to see. It was one of their first photos, one with him as a kid. Cole had slung his arm over Zane's shoulder, and the Nindroid was smiling politely into the lens. Kai had rested his elbow on Lloyd's head, and the little boy had his mouth open in a cry of indignation.

Lloyd let out a sad sigh as he cleared the dust away from the last two faces. Jay and Nya, hand in hand. The lightning master had apparently gotten bored of the innumerable attempts that Wu had tried take the photos, trying to get them just right, because Jay had leaned in and kissed Nya's cheek. The young woman had a huge grin on her face as she tried to get away from his lips.

All in all, it was a perfect picture of a perfect life. Sure, it had its downsides, but everyone was happy.

He continued on to another picture further down in the hallway. A photo of Kai and Nya playing a board game. Nya was trying to hide her face behind her brother's back, and Kai was pretending the camera wasn't there, and was pondering where to place his next pawn.

Lloyd smiled slightly at the next one. He had worked together with the rest of the guys a few months back to create a romantic scene for Zane and Nya. Kai and Lloyd had worked on making the icicles on the branches, while Zane and Cole made the bench. It had taken a few hours, but it was absolutely perfect by mid afternoon.

Lloyd pursed his lips. Zane had been so distracted the whole time, with that tiny smile on his lips and a distant look in his eyes, an evident thing in that photo, where Kai was waving his hand in front of Zane's face, trying to get him to smile for the camera. The Nindroid would not cooperate. But none of them blamed him for being so distracted.

"Lloyd!" Cole's voice jerked him out of the reverie.

"Y-yeah?" Lloyd's voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. "Did you find him?"

Cole came barreling down the steps with the limp, red form in his arms. "Come, quickly." He ordered. "He's alive."

Lloyd instantly fell into stride behind Cole and followed him into the medical room. "How?" He asked quickly. "He looks like he took a bloodbath."

"I said he was alive," Cole said as he set Kai on the table. "Not that he was doing well." He grabbed a towel and dampened it in the small faucet. "Help me clean him up, so we can see what we're dealing with."

* * *

Nya laid in her bed for hours, staring at the ceiling with blurred vision as she twirled Zane's ring in her fingers.

She was so confused. Two years ago, she had lost her first fiancé. She had cried almost nonstop for the first year.

After that, things had steadily gotten better. She had started to seriously consider a romantic relationship with Zane, although he seemed plenty content with the platonic relationship they had commanded before then.

A faint smile curled her lips as she recalled a bittersweet memory.

_{It was about six months before now, give or take a few, and she had been washing the dishes in the kitchen. The boys were all off sparring, and she could hear their shouts and laughter from across the ship._

_After almost thirty minutes, Cole had entered the kitchen with blood dripping from his nose._

_Nya had turned to him with alarm. "Cole!" She exclaimed. "Are you okay?" She had run to the kitchen sink with a towel, then to his face to clean it up._

_Cole's face had flushed a bright red as he sat down on a chair in the dining room. "Yeah," he said with a spark of humor. "It's just blood, Nya. I'll survive."_

_Nya had set the towel in his hand and let him get himself more thoroughly clean. "Good," she said quickly. "If you need anything, just call for me. I'll be in the kitchen for a little while."_

_"Wait," Cole's voice was fast, and a little flustered._

_Nya turned to look at him. "Yes, Cole?"_

_His face flushed a little deeper, and he swallowed hard. "I was wondering..." He cleared his throat as Nya raised an eyebrow in mild amusement. Watching Cole stumble through words was a rarity._

_Cole pursed his lips, then puckered them for a moment before they went straight. "Are you free tomorrow?"_

_Nya's other eyebrow raised. "No, I'm a little on the costly side, why?"_

_Cole had let out a quiet laugh. His green eyes sparkled with humor. "What's the price, then?" A cocky grin lingered on his cheeks._

_Nya returned the grin with hesitation. _What about Zane?_ A little voice in the back of her mind had spoken up. _What would he think of this?

_She had pushed the thoughts away. There was nothing romantic between her and the Nindroid. She was free to make her own choices. "You're as bad as Zane," she flashed a real smile. "It was a joke."_

_Cole's twinkle brightened, and his face drew closer to a normal color. "Tomorrow at six?" He had asked. "A walk through the park, perhaps?"_

_"Sounds good." Nya nodded and backed toward the kitchen._

_"Great." Cole got to his feet and followed her into the kitchen, holding up the towel. "Where does this go?"_

_Nya took it from his fingers, and found that his hand had suddenly tightened around hers. A light fluttering had invaded her chest as she looked up into his eyes._

_He gave her a smile and spoke softly. "See you later, Nya."_

_Nya had blinked rapidly as he left the room, confused by his actions. Her fingers had gone to her lips as his legs carried him through the door and out of her sight._

_She had registered very few emotions throughout the rest of the night. And excitement was not one of them._

_She felt angry with herself for agreeing, and embarrassed by her own behavior._

_While she had been getting ready for bed that night, Zane had come in, as usual, to check up on her._

_He had knocked once before entering, just to give her a warning, then walked right up to her and given her a gentle hug. He kissed her cheek. "How was your day, Nya?" He asked in a whisper in her ear._

_His touch had sent spears of guilt into her chest. "It..." She pursed her lips. "Good, Zane. It was good."_

_Zane stared at her for a long moment. "You want to tell me something?" He asked in a gentle, patient voice_

_Nya looked up at his soft, confused eyes and burst into tears. "No, I don't want to tell you," she sobbed as she buried her face is to his shirt. "But...I think I have to."_

_Zane had given her a soft smile as his arms went around her waist. "You know I'll always listen, Nya."_

_Whatever control she had over her emotions had shattered in that moment. "I'm sorry, Zane." She had sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry, Zane."_

_Zane scooped her into his arms and sat down on the bed with her. "For what?" He rocked back and forth gently._

_Nya forced herself to look into his eyes as she spoke. "I...I'm going on a date tomorrow," she had said in a guilty tone, much like a child who was caught with a fist full of sweets._

_Zane suddenly went rigid. The rocking stopped, and he was silent. "With who?" His tone was indiscernible._

_"Cole," she whispered her reply. She gazed into his eyes, which had lost the warm glow from a mere fifteen seconds before._

_Zane was silent for a full torturous minute before he began to rock her back and forth again. He used his sleeve and gently wiped away her tears, so she could see his face again. He was smiling sadly. "Go get him, girl." He said quietly. "Please don't apologize. You've done nothing wrong."_

_Nya had stared up at him, bewildered. "What?"_

_Zane brightened his grin a bit. "Go have fun, Nya." He set her down on the bed. "I'll see you in the morning." He left the room without looking back._

_Nya stared at the door for several minutes as she tried to puzzle out his behavior. Granted, he had looked sad, a little hurt, but not angry. Anger was a word and action not often found in the blond man's vocabulary._

_The next day, and had gone through with the date, although she couldn't say that she had much fun. They wandered through the park at random, and talked about little things, like how fascinating those swans in the pond were, and how old certain trees beside the path were. Awkward silence dominated the greater portion of the evening, though._

_When they finally got home that night, Nya had thanked him politely and gone straight to her room. She sat on the bed and stared at the ceiling for several minutes before Zane came in._

_He took one look at her face, and whatever smile he had diminished. He sat down on the bed and stroked her hair. "How was it?" He had asked._

_Nya shook her head and crawled onto his lap. "Never again," she whispered into his shirt. "I'm so sorry, Zane."_

_"Why?" Zane asked in a gentle whisper. "Why would you be sorry? You did nothing wrong."_

_Nya looked up at his confused expression. "Because...I..." She swallowed. "I love you, Zane. Not Cole."_

_Zane's eyes widened in surprise, and he simply stared at her for a long moment. "Do you really mean that?" He asked._

_"Yes," Nya stroked his cheek with a smile. "Yes, I do mean it."_

_A slow smile crept across Zane's face. His eyes sparkled like ice melting in sunlight. "I forgive you, Nya." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "And I love you too."_

_Nya wrapped her arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. "At this stage in my life," she had said. "I can't imagine myself with any other man."_

_"Jay?" Zane had prompted._

_"No," Nya had said. "Please, don't even mention him. I love him, but he is gone. I need to move on."_

_Zane nodded. "Of course, Nya." He rested his chin on her shoulder. "I love you so much."_

_"Since when?" She replied. "Did this emotion just suddenly appear twenty seconds ago?"_

_"No," Zane smiled. "I have loved you for much longer than that."_

_Nya nodded. "Why didn't I see it sooner?" She was completely baffled by her density._

_Zane had shrugged. "You were too busy trying not to drown."}_

...And now all of that was gone...

Nya's neck hurt terribly as she turned onto her side and stared at the door, still twirling Zane's ring in her fingers. _Maybe I should get up,_ she thought. _Cole came back a while ago, maybe I should go see if he found..._

The thought of what Cole would be bringing back in his arms sent her through another wave of tears. The minutes all blurred into one never ending cycle of grief and despair.

Why had no one come in to check on her? Whenever she was ill, Zane wouldn't go thirty minutes without coming in to check on her. It had been hours, and she felt as if Cole and Lloyd had all but forgotten her.

She flung the blankets off of her body and noticed her clothes for the first time. Her dress had splotches of blood all over it. She knew it wasn't hers, because she had no open wounds. Perhaps Zane touched her before he had been captured? She was not sure.

Before leaving the room, she glanced at her wall clock and noted that it was now early noon. To think that she had woken up over six hours ago with both a brother and a fiancé, both of which were safe and on board the ship.

She wandered down the hallway with no real destination, just putting one foot in front of the other.

"Nya?" Lloyd appeared behind her with a basket of soiled towels.

The woman whirled around and looked at him. "Yes, Lloyd?" Her voice was devoid of emotion and monotonous.

Lloyd swallowed hard and gestured with his head down the hall. "You should come to the medical room. They've been waiting."

"Who?" Nya asked. "Wu and Cole?" Wu was supposed to be on a trip in the mountains. But maybe he was back?

Lloyd shook his head. "Just...just go, please." He ran down the hall and out of her sight.

Nya looked down the hall quizzically for several seconds before obeying his request and going to the medical room.

She hesitated before her hand had even touched the door handle, terrified of what she would find inside. Memories of Jay's death replayed in her mind. The blood, the smells, the desperation...

She took a deep breath and forced her heart back into her chest as she gripped the handle and shoved it open determinedly.

Her nose wrinkled. Blood? Yes. Antiseptic and other nasty smells? Most definitely. A horrible déjà vu.

Her eyes scanned the room quickly before landing on the table where her brother lay. Cole was standing with his back to her, washing something in the sink. He turned to face her and gave a weak smile. "Glad to see you're up, Nya."

Nya walked over to the table briskly, not bothering with an answer.

She could not help herself when she saw Kai on the table, face up with a bandage around his middle. He was so pale...

Nya began to cry as she stroked Kai's cheek with a trembling finger, then leaned down and kissed his cold forehead.

Kai's eyes fluttered open a moment later, and he gave her a weak smile. "Hey, sis." His voice was hoarse and raw.

Nya let out a low shriek and jumped backwards. "Kai!" Her throat throbbed with her pitch. "You're okay!" She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"Easy, Nya," Kai said as his torso was lifted off the table. "I'm not exactly in peak physical condition."

Nya set him down carefully and let out a relieved laugh. It sounded more like a cackle, because of her throat. "I thought you were dead," she said in a hushed tone, being more careful with her raw voice.

Kai grinned weakly. "Nope. It'll take more than impaling my stomach to do that."

Cole came up next to Nya. "It impaled more than your stomach, Kai." He said in a grieved tone. "You may feel fine now, but that's only because I've got you on enough medications to sedate an elephant. Neither me or Lloyd have the healing capabilities to keep you alive another twenty-four hours."

Nya's heart rose to her throat again. "What..." She was powerless to get the lump out of her windpipe. "What are you saying, Cole?"

Cole looked at her with tears in his eyes. "I'm saying that unless we find Zane, your brother might not see another sunrise."

Nya's jaw fell open. She looked at Kai in disbelief.

Kai's eyes were cloudy and distant, but he managed to look at Nya with a sad smile. "It's okay, Nya." He grabbed her hand and gave it a weak squeeze. "I'm ready to go."

Nya gripped his hand hard, as if her world would come unglued of she let go. "I'm not ready," she said hoarsely. "I can't lose you and Zane."

Kai's face darkened. "I know this is hard for you, sis." He coughed lightly and grimaced. "But it seems inevitable. You might as well at least try to accept it."

Nya's vision blurred. "What should I do, Cole?" She lifted her free hand and stroked her brother's cheek. "Are we going to go rescue Zane?"

"Did you even have to ask?" Cole replied without hesitation. "Yes, most definitely. But we don't know where they are, and only two ninjas aren't enough to take on an entire army of Nindroids. They're practically souped-up Zanes."

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Kai exclaimed suddenly. He coughed a bit harder, and his mouth filled with blood. He reached for a bowl next to the table and spat in it before speaking. "Cole, we are ninjas, not soldiers. If we want something, we sneak in and grab it, not drop dead in the center of the arena with fanfare."

Cole's eyebrows dropped a little closer to his green eyes. "So what do you suppose that we do?"

Kai lifted the corners of his mouth into a short smile. "Travel in shadows, kill only if necessary, and get my sister's husband-to-be out of there at all costs."

Cole nodded. "Understood." He gave a forced smile. "What else do you suppose we should do?"

Kai grinned, showing a few splotchy red teeth. "Since when have I been leader?"

"Since ten seconds ago, when you came up with a better plan than him." Nya reached for napkin and gently wiped his face clean.

Her brother let out a laugh and coughed again. "Use the falcon to find them," he said in an even more raspy voice. "Zane cannot become invisible, and he shares a special link with the bird. The falcon can find him anywhere. Just follow the bird on Lloyd's dragon, rest assured he will take you to your quarry."

Cole nodded again, and let his eyebrows raise a bit. "I'll go get Lloyd," he said. "We'll leave immediately." He grabbed Kai's free hand and squeezed it gently. "In case we don't make it back in time," he said in a voice filled with grief. "I want you to know that I love you, brother." His eyes filled with more tears. "You're an arrogant, pig-headed, impulsive jerk, and I love you like a little brother."

Kai grinned again, and his own eyes filled with tears. "Thank you for that, you brute. I love you too."

Cole let go of Kai's hand after a final squeeze and left the room without another word.

Kai looked at Nya and stuck out his tongue. "Eew, that was gross," he mimicked a feminine tone and spoke again. "I love you, Kai. I love you too, Cole." He grinned comically and fluttered his eyelashes. "I know he meant brotherly love, but someone could take it out of context really fast, you know?"

Nya couldn't help but laugh. But it hurt her throat, so she had to stop. "But you meant it, right?" She said after composing herself.

Kai nodded slightly. "Of course I did, Nya. I was just trying to make you smile." His face sobered again. "You're acting like I'm already dead, and Zane is beyond hope."

Nya opened her mouth for a reply when the door opened again. She turned her head and saw Lloyd with a glowing elemental blade in his hand.

He came forward and handed it to Nya with a sad grin. "I'm assuming he wanted us to give it to you," he said. "I would take it with us, but I don't think that he'll use it."

Nya wrapped her hands around the hilt of the sword, and the glow dulled. She did not have any ice element in her, so the blade stayed dormant while in her grasp. "Why wouldn't he use it?" She asked. She rubbed her fingers on it, and some dried blood fell away. _Blood everywhere..._ She thought.

Lloyd put a hand on her shoulder gently. "He promised to go with them to save our lives," he explained. "He promised not to fight. I doubt even us coming to rescue him would change that."

Nya set the blade on her brother's lap and gave Lloyd a hug. "Go make them pay for it," she whispered in his ear. "Please get him back."

Lloyd squeezed her back and nodded in reply. You bet we will," he attempted a feeble grin. "I'll see you two soon." He shook Kai's hand and left the room.

Nya sat down in a chair next to Kai with a short grin. "Was that better?" She asked.

Kai stuck out his lower lip and widened his eyes. "Lloyd didn't say he loved me," he said in a whiny voice.

Nya leaned in and kissed his cheek. "There's no pleasing you, is there?"

"Nope," Kai said in his normal voice with a red grin.

Nya looked at his mouth with a sinking heart. Coughing up blood meant that the stuff was in his lungs. Which also meant that he had internal bleeding. A tear ran down her cheek as she looked at his pale body. He had lost so much blood, she wondered at the fact that he was even alive.

Kai reached up and stroked her cheek. "It's okay, Nya." He said hoarsely. His hand went behind her head and he pulled her face close. He kissed her cheek gently, leaving a spot of blood on her face.

Nya picked up Zane's blade and held it close to her chest. "I don't know what I would do if I were to lose you two," she sniffed.

Kai looked at her with sad hazel eyes, and let a tear run down his face. "You would live," he said. "I don't want you to give up, okay?" He reached up with a trembling hand and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I wouldn't want my legacy to be one of death, if you get my meaning." He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Live for me, sis."

Nya nodded. "I understand," she whispered. "But I will never love again, you do realize that?" She swallowed a lump in her throat. "You, Jay, and Zane," she wiped the tear away from Kai's cheek. "I don't think I'll ever recover from that." She set the blade aside. "Is...is there anything you need right now?"

Kai pursed his lips and stared at the ceiling. He looked at Nya after a long moment and sighed. "Will you let me brush your hair?"

Nya looked at him as if he were insane. "Really?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "That's what you want, over everything else right now? Not a drink of water, or a snack, but..." She saw the look on his face and shut her mouth. "Sorry."

Kai's eyes leaked rivulets of tears down his cheeks and onto the pillow. "I can't keep food or water down, Nya. I've already tried." He said quietly. "And yes, all I want to do is touch your hair. Or are you still upset about that day when we were kids?"

Nya shook her head quickly. "Of course not, Kai." She said. "I just...it's a strange request at a time like this."

"So...is that a no?" Kai pressed on.

"Yes-I mean no..." She rubbed her forehead and mumbled under her breath. "Yes, I will go and get my brush."

"Thank you," Kai smiled sweetly.

Nya managed a smile in return, and went to her room.

She returned in under a minute, and she handed him the red brush. "Please be gentle," she said.

Kai took it with a wide grin and turned onto his side with a light hiss through his teeth. But the pain didn't seem to bother him too much, because the smile still lingered when he told her to sit down.

Nya turned the chair around and sat down with her back to him.

Kai immediately went to work on her hair, which was in a tangled mess, because it had not been brushed since the night before. A whole twelve hours of thrashing in her sleep from horrible nightmares, and waking up to a nightmare even worse, had made her hair almost beyond hope.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The silent sobs were still working their way through her body. "Why do you want to do my hair?" She asked.

Kai grabbed a section of her hair and gently ran the brush through it. "Because I've always loved doing it," he said in his raspy voice. "Brushing your hair makes me feel happy."

"How?" Nya asked incredulously. "How on earth could such a thing make you feel happy at a time like this?"

Kai let out a low chuckle. "How does sitting on Zane's lap and listening to his breathing make you happy?"

Nya could not find an answer for him. "I don't know," she said slowly.

"Them how do you expect me to give you an answer?" He ran his shaky fingers through a particularly bad spot. "Being with you makes me happy." He warmed his hand and rubbed her shoulder. "Helping you makes me feel special."

Nya's heart sunk. "Then..." The silent sobs worked their way through her a little faster. "I am so sorry for the way I've treated you the past fifteen, twenty years."

Kai smiled. "You're forgiven, baby."

Nya nearly gasped. She could hardly even remember the last time he had called her that. It was one of those things that came with his doting affections of ages past. She reached behind her head and grabbed his hand.

"Sorry," he said. "You don't want me to call you that anymore?"

"No!" Nya exclaimed. "Please, I like it." She stood up and turned her chair around, so she could face him, and let out a short gasp. His face looked even paler than before, if such a thing were possible, and his eyes were unfocused and looked feverish, although his skin was cold as ice.

"Kai," she said with a panicked expression. "Please, just lay down. You'll wear yourself out, sitting up like this."

Kai let out an involuntary gasp of pain when Nya pushed him onto his back. "Hey, please be careful." He dropped the brush and grabbed her hand. "Just sit down and relax."

Nya intertwined their fingers and sat down without another word.

Kai chuckled and coughed. Another trail of blood ran down his cheek. "Perhaps I should come close to death more often," he said with a short, red grin. "You let me dote you like when we were kids, and obey me without argument."

Nya frowned at him. "No, please don't talk like that." She said curtly. "I don't want any more near-death experiences. One is enough."

"I'll do my best, baby." He looked at her neck and frowned deeply. "Cole told me about the little to-do with Cryptor," he said ruefully. "But I had no clue the damage was that bad." He reached up with his free hand and fingered the deep red and purple bruises. "I'm so sorry, Nya."

Nya pushed his hand away. Touching the bruises made her skin feel like it was on fire. "I'm fine. She picked up the napkin and caught the blood dribble before it reached his pillow. "It's you I'm worried about."

Kai stroked her cheek with his cold hand and said nothing.

* * *

Zane walked with his hands bound behind his back, between two large Nindroids. The group was moving at a fast pace, covering several miles before the sun had even cleared the horizon.

The ground was covered in a dense layer of brush and brambles, and the occasional tree root, which Zane stumbled over more than a few times. And each time he was pulled to his feet, he suffered harsh blows on his back and arms, and sometimes his legs.

By the time noon had arrived, Zane had a painful stitch in his side from exhaustion, and his body had been beaten to a point where he couldn't think of anything else but the pain. But then again, that wasn't really true. He could still think of Nya, and Cole, and Lloyd, and of how he had saved their lives. Those thoughts gave him strength and determination.

But then he would think of Jay and Kai, and of how he could not save them, and his mind would once again fall into despair.

"Get up, you dog!" A sharp pain in his side told him that a new blow had fallen on his body. But what was one more bruise?

Another blow fell, this one much harder than the first, and it drove Zane back into reality. He had fallen to the ground again, and one of his guards was kicking him with his boot. He let out a groan before stifling it and quickly stumbling back onto his feet. It was a hard task, because of his bound hands.

The other guard hit him again with his club on the shoulder blade once, just for good measure. "Keep in line, prisoner." He growled. "We're almost there, then you can rest for a few hours before the fun begins."

Zane just blinked the stars out of his vision and threw his feet forward with a vengeance, one after the other, striding toward what he knew would be his death.

* * *

Cole and Lloyd followed the falcon on the dragon, just as Kai had suggested, for nearly an hour before they stopped to examine some tracks.

"This looks like them," Lloyd said. "They obviously aren't trying to be sneaky." He pointed ahead, to a section where it looked like the trees had been blown away by a blast of fire.

Cole nodded. "All the more easy for us," he said in a gruff tone, masking a thousand pounds of emotion pressing down on his throat. "How old do you think they are?"

Lloyd answered without hesitation. "Three hours. And they're moving at a breakneck pace."

Cole raised an eyebrow. "How can you tell how fast they are moving?" He asked.

Lloyd gave him a broken smile. "Two hours ago, the tracks were about a half hour in the making. We've been flying for three hours. That means that they have been running even faster, with less or no breaks."

Cole pursed his lips. "How long do you think Zane would hold up, running at a pace like that for as long as he has?"

Lloyd shrugged, and his features darkened. "We have maybe another hour or two before he will begin to tire. You know him," he put his hands in his hips and shuffled his feet on the ground absently. "He will run for hours without needing a break. And in his current predicament, I would say pride would make him hold out for a little longer than usual."

Cole nodded. "Makes sense," he said. "Let's hope that they allow him a good long break, for our sake and his." He jumped onto the dragon's back and beckoned to Lloyd. "We need to catch up as soon as possible. Kai doesn't have much time left."

* * *

Nya sat in the chair for hours next to her brother, watching him grow weaker by the minute. His skin grew almost translucent, and little reddish spots popped up just underneath the skin all over his body. Nya knew just by looking at them that they were blood spots. His body was bleeding on the inside.

His breathing became more raspy, and he hardly spoke above a whisper, whenever he spoke at all. He mostly just held her hand with the strongest grip he could muster, which wasn't really much more than a loose hold, and slept. At first, he would just doze off for a few minutes at a time, and would wake up either on his own or because of a rude coughing fit that left mouthfuls of blood and other fluids in his mouth. But after a few cycles of that, he started sleeping for longer periods of time, sometimes going on for close to an hour before regaining consciousness.

And Nya would sit by him patiently, drinking up every last second of her time with him as she tended his every need. When he needed more blankets or less. When he needed more painkillers so he wouldn't start whimpering with every beat of his heart as it sent waves of pulsing pain through his body. But what he seemed to need most of all was to hear her voice, however hoarse and sore it may have been. He always found a way to keep her talking, when he wasn't asleep.

Nya would keep her left hand clasped in his for hours at a time without letting go, wondering why on earth she felt so entirely alone. An aching terror settled on her at one point, when the sun was nearing the mountains in its decent into night. The terror that Cole and Lloyd would not come back with Zane, and that Kai would die, leaving her all alone in this world.

But then again, that wasn't entirely true. She could go to the monastery with Lloyd's parents for a while. Lloyd's mom was nice enough, and Nya was certain that Misako would not turn her away if she asked to stay for a few months, while she tried to push her life back into order.

Nya stroked Kai's hair with her right hand and sniffed lightly as she listened to his breaths. He sounded as if he had a bad case of asthma, with his raspy, shallow breathing that came much faster than it should have.

Kai's eyes opened suddenly, and he inhaled sharply, then let it out like a gunshot. Blood diluted with various other substances that his body felt the need to secrete dripped from his mouth and onto his chin. His body convulsed as he coughed again.

Nya quickly grabbed a bowl she had at the ready and set it next to his face. She helped him sit semi-upright. "Spit, Kai." She said gently.

Kai did as he was told, and a mouth full of the bile went into the already soiled container. He gasped for breath as Nya helped him lay back down on the table, the wiped his face with a damp cloth.

"Nya," he whispered hoarsely, giving her hand a squeeze once it had slipped back into his. "I love you."

Nya gave him a teary smile. He had told her the same words every time he woke up. "I love you too, big brother." She whispered back with a quick kiss on his cheek. "Are you comfortable?"

Kai gave her a look, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "This table isn't exactly a down comforter," he rasped. "But it'll do, until Zane comes here to give me repairs."

Under normal conditions, she would have slapped him for such a poorly placed joke. But right now, she was just glad that he was talking. He was breathing, and he was smiling at her. He could make all the crumby robot jokes he wanted, just as long as he kept up all of those other things at the same time.

She was powerless to stop the tear from dripping down her cheek. "I don't think he's coming back," she said. "His odds of making it out are so slim-"

Kai reached up with a pale, splotchy hand and put it to her lips, stopping her words. "This is coming from the girl who hates it when her fiancé tells her what the odds of her favorite racer's chances of crossing the finish line are?"

Nya grabbed his hand and kissed it lightly. "Yes."

"They say that war changes people," Kai gave her a sad, bloody smile. "I guess it's true."

Nya nodded and kept his hand pressed to her lips. "Has the fact been lost on you the past eight or so years since you became a ninja?" She whispered through his fingers.

"No," Kai let the smile drop. "I just wanted to say it now."

Nya kissed his cold hand again. "If this bed is bothering you, I could move you to my room."

Kai's misty eyes brightened a bit. "Do you think you could carry me that far?" He asked with a teasing grin.

Nya could not find a funny bone in her body to refute his demeaning jest. "Yes, I am strong enough to carry you." She said tartly. "It's only two doors down the hall, you know."

Kai sighed. It sounded like he was gargling water as he exhaled. "I would definitely like to do my rest in a more comfortable place," he said eventually. "Just be gentle with my wound, please."

Nya nodded and let go of his hand. She stood up and removed the blankets from his body. The bandage around his waist was looking a little red, so she changed it carefully, bringing on a round of half-hearted protests. He was too numb from the painkillers she had shot into his bloodstream an hour before to really feel the pain, but it was still there. Like when a dentist is drilling a cavity out of your mouth, and you can't feel the pain, but you can tell that it should hurt.

Kai's abdomen had a neat row of stitches in the prone area between his ribcage and his left hip. Every time he moved, the skin would move just a fraction of an inch, causing a little bit of blood to ooze through the deep incision in his abdomen.

She could not brag about being any great medical genius. Quite the contrary, there were times when she wished that she had actually listened when Zane taught her and the others out of a textbook. His lessons on examining wounds and healing hemorrhages would have proven invaluable. It looked like Cole had listened, at least. Indeed, if not for Cole, her brother would most definitely be dead already.

"Nya?" Kai looked at her with concern. "You okay?"

Nya blinked and snapped herself back into reality. She looked at the fresh bandages she had just wrapped around his waist, and nodded. "Now are we ready?" She asked.

Kai nodded slowly. "I'm sure it'll hurt less than what you just did to me," he joked.

Nya frowned at him. "At least pretend to care about the fact that you're in your final hours," she said with a cracking voice.

Kai frowned back. "Why would I do that?" He asked. "I only have two options, baby. I could sit on this table and complain about absolutely everything, and talk about how sorry I am for myself, or I could put on a smile and find some joy to share with those who will be staying here on earth."

Nya would have listened to his words, but she was too busy worrying about how much his voice sounded like he had swallowed a handful of tacks.

She reached down and picked him up as gently as possible. His arms hung limply as she strained her tired muscles to get him out the door and into her own room.

He didn't even protest when she set him down too fast on the bed, and ended up jerking his body awkwardly as she shifted him. She said a quick apology.

Kai cringed a few times as she moved him, but no words came out of his throat. The only sound she could hear from him was the raspy breathing as he fell unconscious for the hundredth time that evening.

She lifted the blankets up to his chin and reached under the sheets for his hand as she sat down in her bedside chair.

She stroked his cheek gently before resting her head on the mattress and falling into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Cole and Lloyd stopped behind a large boulder and looked ahead of them at the glowing lights. They had left the dragon about a half mile away, and had walked on foot to avoid being seen.

"You see him?" Lloyd asked in a hushed tone.

Cole peered through the dense branches and searched the camp. "No," he whispered back. "But I know he must be in there. Why else would the falcon lead us over here, then fly off into the branches like that?"

Lloyd shrugged. "Good point." He observed the scene below them with a thick cloud of anger hanging over him. Oh, how he wanted to go in there and start fire to their tents. He could feel the heat rising in his palm, with the powers that just begged to be unleashed and do some collateral damage.

But he stayed his itching fist, telling himself that if Zane really as in there, he did not want to risk killing him in the flames.

"Look!" Cole hissed. He pointed to their left. "I think that may be the place."

Lloyd followed his finger and bit his lip in frustration. The object in question was large tent, near the edge of the camp. It was heavily guarded, with Nindroid sentinels at every corner, and two more at the door. "Looks like it's guarded enough," he nodded. "That could be the prison.

"But it's so close to the edge of camp," Cole said. "Don't you thing they'd be keeping prisoners a little more guarded than that? A prison should be in the center if the camp."

Lloyd shrugged. "Overconfidence?"

"No." Cole said immediately. "A trap."

"Makes sense," the younger man replied. "So what's the plan?"

Cole was silent for a long moment. "One of us should go in there," he said eventually. "We need to know if Zane really is in there before we do anything drastic."

"And we need to hurry it up," Lloyd pointed at the sky. "It's near midnight. Goodness knows if Kai is still..." He let his sentence trail off.

Cole sighed heavily and was silent for another minute. "I guess I'll go in," he said. "Since I'm wearing black, I'd have the least change of being caught. Your getup..." He gestured to Lloyd's golden uniform with his hands. "It's not exactly meant for stealth."

Lloyd nodded. "So how do you plan to get in there?" He nodded in the direction of the tent. "I don't think you'll have much luck just walking through the front flaps."

Cole gave him a harsh look. "Thank you for that," he snapped. "Yes, without your help, I would have walked right in there and gotten caught. I am so glad you pointed that out to me."

"Seriously?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

"No!" Cole hissed out quietly. "Sarcasm, Lloyd. Learn how to use it."

Lloyd let out a sigh. "Sorry."

Cole realized how harsh he must have sounded right then, and softened his features a bit. "Look, I'm sorry, Lloyd." He whispered. "It's just been a rough day for us all."

Lloyd nodded despondently. "It's okay, Cole."

Cole put his hand on Lloyd's shoulder and gave him a halfhearted grin. "We need to stay strong, Lloyd." He said solemnly. "If we fail, you do realize we will be the only two ninja left on the team." He swallowed hard. "You might notice, but it has put a lot of pressure on me. Please, just forgive me if I come across as rude when I speak to you."

Lloyd nodded. "Of course, Cole." He gestured to the camp, which was still obscured from view by their boulder. "Good luck."

* * *

"Zane?" A hoarse whisper, and a gentle shove.

Zane flinched at the touch as it sent ripples of pain through his bruised body. He clenched his fists in their bonds. His wrists were tied to two separate beams on either side of him, forcing him to sit upright. He shivered slightly as a gentle breeze moved across his exposed skin. He was wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Zane, it's me." He was poked again, and let out a stifled cry of pain. Whoever this was had sent a spike of pain through a particularly bad cut. His fingers spasmed terribly, causing the ropes to quiver.

"Zane, come on," the voice pleaded. "Open your eyes, will you?"

Zane immediately obeyed, thinking that the speaker might have been Cryptor. He was not going to disobey the general again.

His vision eventually focused on a dark figure standing before him. A black mask was over the man's face, concealing what Zane could only guess was his robotic features.

The man reached for Zane, and he shut his eyes again, tensing every muscle as he awaited the blow.

But it never came. Instead, to his complete and utter confusion, he felt soft fingers pushing the sweaty strands of hair from his face, which was still sticky from Kai's blood, and his own sweat. He knew, just by how much it hurt, that several sections of skin were missing from his body. Whole parts of his face, chest and various other places were glistening silver where the artificial skin had been beaten away.

"Zane, what did they do to you?" The voice was grieved and broken.

Zane opened his eyes again, and saw the man take off his mask. He let out a gasp and blinked a few times. "Cole!" He said hoarsely. "Get out of here, now!"

"No," was the short reply that he got. "No, Zane. I'm not going to leave you here."

"Yes you are," Zane shot back angrily. "Part of my agreement with Cryptor was that I would go with him in exchange for your lives. And if he caught you here, he'd be sure to nullify that agreement. We'd all be dead by daybreak."

Cole frowned. "You are a fool," he said hotly. "Giving up your life like this. Look at yourself!" He gestured to Zane's bruised, pale body with concern. "You could not have been in this camp longer than nine hours, and they've already made you look like a warrior straight from the front lines of a battle."

Zane glared back up at Cole. "Jay and Kai are both dead, because of me." He growled. "Do you really want to be next?"

"First of all," Cole stopped him in a hushed tone. "You are too loud. I'm sort of not supposed to be here, you know. Secondly, Jay was not your fault. And third-"

"But Jay was my fault, Cole." Zane looked up at him with broken blue eyes. "I counted seven places where I made errors in my healing. Six of those, if I had payed attention, would have saved his life." He had been replaying the footage in his mind for over a year now, analyzing everything meticulously, until he was certain he would burst from the guilt of it all.

Cole put a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiled sadly. "The past is in the past, my brother." He whispered. "I forgive you. Everyone makes mistakes."

"But-"

"No buts, Zane." Cole cut him off. "And Kai is not dead, either."

Zane's twitching mouth opened wide in surprise. "W...what?" He whispered. "But I saw him-"

"You saw him bleeding on the ground," Cole interrupted again. "I got there twenty minutes later and saw him still bleeding, but very much alive." He let his arm slide from Zane's shoulder, and fall useless at his side. "But he won't be for much longer if we don't get you back in time to save him."

Zane blinked a few times in stunned surprise. "Lloyd's powers had no effect?" He asked. "How is he?"

Cole shrugged. "I left the Bounty around six in the morning with Lloyd, so it's been close to twenty hours since I last saw him. Nya is back with him right now, waiting for you." He sighed. "And no, Lloyd insisted that he could not do it without your guidance. He did not want to fuse something together that shouldn't have been, you know?"

Zane nodded slowly. "If I go back, you have to swear to fly the ship off immediately. I don't want the Nindroids to follow us. We have to stay as far away from these monsters as possible, because I know that Cryptor will show us less mercy than he did to Kai." He shuddered, and spoke in a weak, trembling voice. "About an hour before you came, he was talking of disassembling me."

Cole's heart slammed in his chest. "He won't do that," he said firmly. "That settles it. I am going to get Lloyd, then make plans to get you out within fifteen minutes." He looked into Zane's eyes for approval, but found only horror. Zane's eyes were looking beyond Cole's shoulder, pupils contracted to pinpoints in his icy blue irises.

Cole cursed himself as he turned to face general Cryptor.

* * *

Kai awakened suddenly to the sound of quiet whimpering. He turned his head slowly and saw that Nya was sitting on the chair with his head on the bed, crying in her sleep.

"Nya?" His throat felt like it was coated in fire. He reached out with a shaking hand and touched her head, which was wet with large beads of sweat. "Hey, baby?" He tried to use his powers, and found that he barely had the strength to radiate more than a gentle heat from his palm. It was frustrating, just how powerless he was in his current state. He was hardly able to see straight, and everything in and about him felt sluggish and weak. His thoughts came slow, his movements came slow, and his speech came slow.

He caressed her cheek gently with his mildly warm finger as she sobbed and let out muffled cries for Jay, Zane, and Kai in her sleep.

Kai let tears blur his vision even more as he observed. So this was what happened every morning? This was what Zane had been helping her fight since the day Jay died? He had never actually seen it, only heard the screams on a few rare occasions.

Nya let out an ear-splitting shriek and bolted upright without warning, hitting her head against the wall behind her in the sudden panic. She looked into Kai's wild eyes for half a moment before burying her head in her hands and sobbing once again.

Kai reached out and touched her arm. "Nya," he said softly. "You okay, baby?" Of course, he could see that she was anything but okay. He pursed his lips and contemplated on his next course of action. What was he supposed to do?

His heart gave a short, weak leap in his chest as he realized that she actually did need him. This was becoming more like when they were children by the minute.

Kai reached a little further, extending his arm to its full length, and grabbed her arm. "Come here, Nya." He said in his hoarse, fluid-filled voice. He made gentle hushing noises as he coaxed her to come up onto the bed with him.

She slowly, through many sobs and tremblings, made her way onto the bed and into his arms.

Kai wrapped his arms around her protectively as she put her sweaty, hot head onto his cold chest. He pulled the blankets up and over both of them, then kissed the top of her head.

"It'll be okay, Nya." He whispered gently into her hair.

She wrapped her arms around him and clung as tightly as she dared, not wanting to hurt him. "Y-you were there, Kai," she sobbed quietly. "You, and Zane, and J-Jay," she trembled even harder. "Please don't leave me here alone," she whimpered.

Kai felt a cough coming on, and he allowed his diaphragm to spasm. He had a mouth full of blood and bile after a few hard coughs. He realized that he had no bowl to spit it into, because Nya had apparently fallen asleep right after setting him down on the bed. He realized, by the way she was trembling, that she would not be getting up anytime soon. She needed to be next to big brother for a long while, and not be bothered by his problems at all, whatsoever.

He swallowed the bile in his mouth with a light shudder, then began to caress Nya's hair. "I'm not going anywhere, sis."

* * *

Cole reached for his blade and drew it swiftly, then charged his opponent. "I am so sick of you, and everyone else who played a part in this sick game!" He thrust his blade into the ground, and dust cloud swirled up into Cryptor's eyes. The Nindroid backed up several steps and growled in anger and pain.

Cole whirled around and cut Zane's arms free from the support rods. The android slumped to the ground.

The ninja of earth wrapped his arm around Zane's torso and helped him to his feet. "Can you walk?" Cole asked quickly.

Zane shook his head. "There's too much pain," he said.

Cole's heart thudded in his chest as he scooped the man into his arms and ran past Cryptor. He realized, to his horror, that Zane was in much worse shape than he would have ever guessed. Zane did not complain about his wounds. Pain was nothing to the ninja of ice. Zane saying that there was too much pain was like the sun telling the moon they were going to trade positions, and it was going to begin its trek in the night instead of the morning.

Cole was out into the open air a moment later. He whirled his head around wildly, trying to see if an alarm had been raised. So far, only the guards at the door to the tent were aware of his presence. But for some reason, they were not following him. He took advantage of this fact by bolting toward the large boulder as fast as his legs would carry him.

Lloyd was waiting there for him. As soon as Cole skidded to a stop next to the young man on the ground, the golden ninja leapt to his feet.

"What happened?" Lloyd asked, examining Zane's twitching body. "He looks terrible."

Cole gestured to the woods. "Let's get going," he said. "We've only got a few more seconds until Cryptor recovers and raises an alarm."

Lloyd nodded. "Let's go then." He took Zane from Cole's arms. "You're the better fighter," he explained. "You need your arms free." He took off running.

Cole followed behind Lloyd and called out. "Call the dragon!"

Lloyd nodded and let out a loud whistle. Within a minute, the four headed beast had landed in front of them, cracking several branches as it crashed through the trees and landed in front of them.

As Cole made his way up the dragon's back after Lloyd and Zane, he heard a noise behind him and turned his head to look. "Get us moving, Lloyd." He said in an urgent tone. "They're following."

"It's about time, too." Lloyd said as he passed Zane back to Cole and grabbed the reins. "Why didn't they start pursuing us in the first place?"

The dragon shot into the sky and was a hundred feet up before Cole realized that he wasn't breathing. He slowly let out a breath and let it in again. He looked below him at the foot soldiers that charged through the trees, shouting angrily at them and shaking their fists.

Cole had to let out a relieved laugh. "I think the reason they didn't follow," he said as he cradled Zane's broken body in his arms. "Is because I blinded their leader with a dust cloud. Cryptor was incapacitated for a few seconds, and was unable to give his men orders."

"Indeed," Zane spoke up suddenly, his voice as weak and shaky as before. "The Nindroids wouldn't swat a fly without asking Cryptor first. They are very disciplined. Since the General didn't give the order to pursue us, they simply watched in silence." He trembled like a leaf as he stared into the moon with his wide, blue eyes.

Cole bit his lip to hold back a wave of tears. _I don't think any of us will be the same after this day, _he thought to himself as the dragon flew at a breakneck pace for the Bounty.

* * *

Nya laid in the bed, pressed against her brother's body, for over an hour. Her sobs had subsided after about forty minutes, give or take a few. After that, she simply stared at the insides of her eyelids and shivered. Kai was so cold, it was hard to keep her body heat. She just hoped that it was going to him, and not escaping through the sheets.

For a brief moment, she wondered what someone would think if they walked in on her and Kai like this, wrapped in each other's embraces.

But she simply hugged Kai tighter and scolded herself for the thought. Her brother was dying. She could do as she pleased, as long as it pleased her brother. And he seemed happy enough. He still had occasional coughs, but he seemed to be doing just fine. He wasn't spitting, so she assumed his lungs were finally free of the blood.

Nya nestled her head under his chin and listened to his heart beat in his chest._ Thud...thudthud...thud..._ The rhythm scared her. It was irregular and slow, like his breathing.

"Thanks for...the bath," Kai rasped slowly.

Nya blinked, confused for a second. Then she realized that she was crying again, and that his chest was wet with her tears. He was joking with her about the tears.

She slid her arm up and stroked his cheek, although her head stayed buried in his chest. "Sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," Kai's hand stroked her hair. "I don't...mind."

There was silence for several more minutes before Kai spoke up again. "What...what are you going...to do tomorrow?" He couldn't seem to catch his breath.

Nya shook her head slightly, rubbing her face in the puddle on his cold chest. "I...I won't die," she said shakily. "I want it so much, Kai. But I won't." She breathed in slowly, and let it out as a quivering sob. "What I will do tomorrow all depends on whether or not Cole and Lloyd return, I guess." She said. "If they aren't back by tomorrow night, I will go looking for them. What I do after that will depend on a million other variables."

Kai let out a weak chuckle. "There...there you go," he said. "Now don't forget that...plan. You should go...to Lloyd's parents, if you can't...find the others. They'll help...you."

Nya nodded again as her fingers found his ear. She played with it absentmindedly as she answered. "I'll do that."

Kai kissed the top of her head. "I love..." A raspy breath broke it up. "I love you...sis."

More tears fell from her eyes unbidden. "I love you, Kai."

* * *

Zane may have been weak in body, but his mind was still strong and alert as he looked at their surroundings. A pale crescent moon, illuminating a far too silent forest below.

Lloyd seemed to be riding the dragon faster than normal, because the trees seemed to go by in a blur. All the better, because it meant that they were going to get home sooner than they could have, if they were driving the dragon at its regular speed.

"There it is," Cole broke the heavy silence so suddenly that Zane jumped. "It's the Bounty, Lloyd. Stop the dragon."

"Thank you, Cole." Lloyd's tone was dry. "I didn't see it there."

Cole chuckled. "Well done, Lloyd." He said. "You see? Sarcasm is easy."

"Yeah, whatever." Lloyd said with a wave of his hand. He directed the dragon to the clearing next to the ship, and jumped down.

Cole wrapped one arm around Zane's shirtless waist. "Wrap your arms around my neck," he said. "I need one arm to climb down.

He felt the cold arms around his neck a moment later, and he slid down carefully. He landed on the ground and again transitioned him into both arms.

"No," Zane said quietly. "Put me down, Cole. I feel stronger now."

Cole set Zane's feet on the ground, and wrapped his arm around Zane's torso again in support. But Zane was not lying. He really was doing better. His feet were a little slower than Cole would have liked, but he was definitely stronger than before.

They entered the quiet, dark ship and felt immediately that something was off.

Zane looked around the moonlit deck with a twitchy frown. The artificial skin that still covered half his face was jerking sporadically every few seconds. "Where are they?" He asked.

Lloyd beckoned them to the stairs. "We left Kai and Nya in the medical room." They all went down the steps to below deck.

Lloyd ran to the men's dorm and returned a moment later with a robe. He draped it over Zane's half naked body, and received a nod of thanks from the broken android.

Cole was just about to turn the door hand to the medical room when Zane held up a hand.

"Wait," the Nindroid said suddenly. "They're not in there."

"Where else would they be?" Cole asked impatiently.

Zane pointed down the hall a few more doors. "Can't you hear it?" His voice was full of worry as he extricated himself from his brother's grasp and limped down the hallway. He pressed his ear against Nya's door and frowned. He could hear soft sobbing. He opened the door and stepped in slowly.

He observed the bed with a sinking heart. Nya sat on her knees on the mattress, head in hands, sobbing quietly but very passionately.

Kai was in the bed next to her, pale as death, and covered in red spots that Zane found himself wishing were bruises, although he knew otherwise.

"Nya?" He whispered softly as he took a shaky step forward. "Love?"

Nya stopped her crying almost immediately, and let out a gasp. Her hands fell to her sides, and her head swiveled around to face him. She stared at him with her puffy red eyes and flushed, wet face for nearly ten seconds before blinking. "Zane?" She whispered hoarsely.

Zane looked at her neck with a pain in his heart. Cryptor's choke hold on her neck had left her with terrible bruises and a hoarse, sore throat. He could tell that much, just from the way she said his name. "Yes, love?" He smiled sadly as his eyes traveled to Kai's sleeping face. _Sleeping...or dead?_

An indiscernible look shot across her face. Confusion, excitement, and grief seemed to be the predominant emotions.

Zane took another step toward her and opened his arms. Nya leapt from the bed and wrapped her arms around his torso before he could even blink.

He braced his weak legs so he wouldn't fall over when she shot into his arms. He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. A wave of relief washed through him at her touch. "What's wrong?" He whispered.

"Zane," she sobbed quietly into the white robe. "Oh, thank you." She sniffed. "I'm so glad that you're okay. I was afraid you weren't going to come back."

Zane rubbed the back of her head and gently pressed her face closer to his body. He glanced at Kai again and closed his eyes. "Is Kai okay?"

"No," she whimpered. "Kai won't...he's not waking up."

Zane's face darkened. "So he is still alive?" He whispered.

Nya nodded. "He...he's breathing, but his pulse is not right, and I can't wake him up."

Zane kissed her head again. "I'll see what I can do." He slowly pulled himself out of her grasp and limped over to the bed. He grabbed Kai's cold, white wrist and felt for a pulse. He waited for two long, heart-wrenching seconds before a dull, barely noticeable tapping under the skin indicated that the ninja of fire was still alive...

...Barely.

Zane turned and looked at Cole and Lloyd, who were standing by Nya. All three of them wore panicked expressions. "Cole," his voice lost the soft cadence that he used when he spoke to Nya. "Get this ship airborne. I want us as far away from here as possible, as soon as possible."

Cole nodded and backed out of the room without a word.

"Lloyd," Zane continued. "You can carry Kai back to the infirmary." He did not wait for a response, or even look at the young man. He limped straight back to Nya and grabbed her hand. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Do you have my ring?" He asked, going back to his gentle tone.

Nya nodded and used her free hand to undo the clasp at the base of her neck. "I put it on the chain," she said. She was forced to let go of Zane's hand so she could get the clasp undone. She held up the two rings. One was small and gold. The other was several sizes larger, and was made of silver. She slid the silver one off the chain and put it in Zane's palm. She redid the clasp around her neck and watched him put the ring back on.

Zane smiled warmly and grabbed her hand again. "I love you, Nya." His eyes shook, and he had a hard time keeping her gaze leveled. "I am so sorry about this. I broke my promise, and the ring went onto your chain."

Nya stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. Zane wasn't certain if she had done it on purpose or not, but her lips had found the cold, metal part of his face, where a particularly powerful blow had hit his head and stripped away the artificial skin.

Nya kissed his other cheek, the healthy one, and smiled. "I love you, frosty." Her red eyes were so puffy that Zane briefly wondered if she had a head cold.

He wiped away a few tears on her cheek and took a shaky step forward. "Let's go and see what kind of damage that monster did to our brother." He led her down the hall to where Cole and Lloyd were talking in hushed tones next to Kai's table.

"What's going on?" Zane asked.

Cole looked at him with a panicked expression. "Zane," he swallowed. "They did something to the engines."

"What?" The Nindroid's tone made Nya cringe. "Who? Who did what to the engines?"

Cole shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the next. "We all apparently missed it last night, because of all the...the action." He cleared his throat. "The engines are trashed. Someone went into the port boosters and took out these pieces." He held up his hand and presented three tiny components. Two frayed wires and a broken rod. "I found them on the deck," he explained.

Zane examined them with a sinking heart._ I am truly a fool, _he said to himself. "It was all a play," he said under his breath.

"Come again?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

Zane spoke in a louder voice. "Cryptor's plan was never to kill Kai yesterday morning," he said quickly, his eyes widening in alarm. "He wanted Kai to survive, for the sole purpose of making the last twenty-four hours of our life miserable." He bit his lip and growled under his breath as he paced the room.

"Zane," Cole said. "You're not making any sense."

Zane's head shot up, and he looked at him. "The tent was poorly guarded, and at the edge of camp." He waved his arms to accentuate his words. "Cryptor wanted you to recapture me. Or at least, he wanted you to try."

"Why?" Lloyd asked. "What reason would Cryptor have to do such a thing?"

Zane paced a little faster. Cole noted that he was looking a little stronger with every passing moment.

The Nindroid growled angrily and pulled at his disarranged blond hair. "I don't know," he said. "But I do know one thing. We can't stay here."

"But we can't leave either," Cole pointed out. "We have Kai to worry about. This isn't a simple task of hopping on the dragon and flying to the opposite side of Ninjago, this is a man who is at deaths door, and who needs immediate attention."

Zane nodded in agreement. "So let's get to work." He suddenly stopped pacing, and cut away the bandage at Kai's abdomen with a pair of scissors that Cole had left next to the table. "I suppose our best option would be to work on Kai now, and hope that we can get him stabilized, so we can leave before the Nindroids come."

"Zane," Nya said after a moment of silence, in which the only noise was that of Zane pulling the wrapper off of a sterile needle and syringe. "I don't understand where your logic is coming from."

"Yeah," Lloyd agreed. "I don't see why you would think that Cryptor kept Kai alive on purpose. And why would he take you captive, if he only wanted us to come and rescue you?"

"Because," Zane said impatiently. He filled the needle with a heavy sleeping drug and pressed it into Kai's arm. He did not want to risk having the poor man wake up while he was operating. "He knows that I have the superior knowledge of how to tend wounded. He wanted me out of the picture, so both of you would have to do it. He wanted Nya to suffer through knowing her brother's only hope was in you two getting me back."

Cole's eyebrows lifted in surprise and understanding. "His plan is...has been, this while time..."

"To make us suffer before we are killed." Zane finished. "It was an intricate plan, and one that shows that he knows more about us than we had guessed."

Cole furrowed his brows and joined Zane at the table. "It shows us just how intelligent Cryptor really is, and how truly a his mercy we are. He has been toying us for years now, just waiting for this moment when he would strike out and kill us all in one blow..." His mouth opened wide in terror, and Zane stared back with his own jaw slack.

"We need to get out of here." Zane whispered hoarsely.

Lloyd and Nya stared at each other with raised eyebrows. "Zane," Lloyd said. "You two still aren't making sense."

Zane and Cole were suddenly of one mind, grabbing bandages and tools and shoving them into a large bag. "Cole," Zane addressed the ninja of earth. "Did you actually examine the damaged engine?"

"Sort of," Cole replied. "Not as well as I should have. They could have stuffed anything in there, and I wouldn't have seen it, because I wasn't looking for it."

"Looking for what?" Nya asked, her own voice rising in terror. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?" She screamed.

Zane suddenly whirled around and grabbed her shoulders. His eyes were wide with terror. "A bomb." He pushed her toward the door. "We need to move, now!" He grabbed his blade, which was sitting on the table next to Kai, and followed Nya out the door.

Cole grabbed the bag and ran after Zane. "Grab Kai, quickly!" He shouted.

Lloyd did not question the order. He scooped the unconscious man into his arms without a moment's hesitation and followed.

They ran through the hall, up the stairs, and out onto the deck in record time. Zane helped Nya over the edge of the ship, then into the woods. The others followed.

Once they were about a three hundred paces away from the ship, Zane stopped abruptly and turned to face it. He had not let go of Nya's hand the entire time, and now he pulled her close and waited breathlessly for the others to catch up.

No sooner had the others caught up to him than a bright flash of red lit up the sky, making Nya gasp and grip Zane's shirt in a panic.

Zane wrapped his arms around her and stared out at the now burning wreckage of their home. Tongues of red, orange and blue licked at the treetops and started them on fire.

Nya looked at the burning ship with her jaw slack and her eyes as round as saucers. She could feel the heat of the blast from where they stood, over six hundred feet off.

The intensity of the situation was too much for her. She took one look at her brother, half dead and limp in Lloyd's arms, with the fire illuminating his face and making it look orangish-red, and she broke. With one sudden blow, her sanity was completely taken from her, and she buried her face in Zane's shirt. She began to sob.

Zane hugged her tighter and made hushing noises, trying to keep her calm, but it was no use. She only seemed to cry louder when he spoke to her, and gripped his shirt harder when he tried to lift her head. So he eventually gave up and joined the men in silence, watching the flames take away everything he had ever known in life...

...again.

Lloyd did not draw a parallel, of course. He had not been on the team when the monastery burned. But the memory came back fresh and clear in the minds of Cole, Zane and Nya.

Of course, Zane had no idea how Cryptor would have known about that. It had happened seven, eight years ago. Long before the other Nindroids had been invented, and Zane had been the only one.

"So..." Lloyd said quietly after a few minutes. "What do we do now?"

Cole broke his eyes away from the wreckage and faced Zane. One look through the other's eyes told them that they were both thinking of the same event, the same burning, all those years ago.

Cole cleared his throat and spoke. "We need to ride the dragon to Garmadon's monastery. They will be able to help us with Kai."

"If he lives that long," Lloyd pointed out. "The ride will take at least an hour."

Zane kissed the top of Nya's head and spoke softly, in an effort to calm her down, although the words were not for her. "The dragon has a wide enough back," he said. "I can work on Kai during the ride."

Lloyd nodded and called the dragon with a loud whistle. It must have been off hunting, because Lloyd had to call out several times before it came and landed next to them. Everyone climbed on, although Zane had to carry Nya, because she seemed unable to do anything herself. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and Zane feared that her mind may have already snapped.

* * *

Nya had been passed off to Lloyd almost immediately after they mounted the dragon. But she did not care anymore. She was too far gone to care. She sat on the young man's lap for the duration of the trip, shivering, even though he radiated a gentle heat from his body, using his powers. She did not know how, but she could somehow feel his elements before they even hit the surface of the skin. Lloyd had Kai's determination, Cole's leadership abilities, Zane's analytical, logical mind, and Jay's enthusiasm and energy.

It stung her, sitting on his lap, being able to sense all of these elements. Kai's fire, Cole's earth, Zane's ice, and Jay's lightning, all in one man. It brought back memories of Jay, and twisted the knife already lodged in her gut.

Lloyd sat with her patiently, giving the dragon directions every once and a while, though it seemed to already know where they were going, because it really didn't need Lloyd's guidance.

He listened to the sounds behind him with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Just from the tones of the two men sitting behind him, he could tell that Kai was not doing well. He couldn't always tell what they were saying, but a lot of it went long the lines of being ruptured or fractured.

Of course, Lloyd would never admit it, but he was terrified. Kai had been like a big brother to him for years now. The fact that his hero was laying behind him, walking across the threshold of Death's door, left a hollow feeling in his chest. He tried to smile on the outside as he cradled the man's broken sister in his arms, but he was left wondering if it was even a smile. He was certain that, if he could see his own face, he would wonder if it was an evil smirk.

By the time they reached his parents monastery, he had dropped the façade. When his father ran out to greet them, asking what on earth they were doing here at this hour, he simply gave his father a grieved look and walked right past him, still holding her tightly in his arms.

Zane, like Cole, was able to press his emotions into a stone mask, to hide what was actually going in inside as he explained the situation to Sensei Garmadon. The elderly man immediately went into another room and brought out a stiff blanket to use as a stretcher, and they got Kai into the house as quickly as possible.

Misako appeared moments after Kai had been set down on the kitchen table, and immediately began to help.

Kai's face was covered in blood, because Zane and Cole had managed to get the majority of the stuff out of his lungs before they reached the monastery.

The next hour was a blur of stitching, rearranging and removing things in the hole. Things that Cole could have done by himself, but he had been too fearful of messing up at the time.

They were done by the time the sun had risen above the mountains, and Zane went to find Lloyd and Nya, after washing his hands and receiving a fresh set of clothing.

He found them almost immediately in a spare bedroom. Nya was in the bed. She was pale, trembling, and obviously a little out of it.

Lloyd was on his knees next to the bed, holding her hand. He looked up and saw Zane enter, and a forced smile crossed his face. "How is Kai?" He asked.

Zane sucked on the inside of his cheek. "He's...better." He said. "Your mother is waiting for you in the kitchen. She says that you can use your powers now, and try to mend some of the damage. We pieced everything together the best we could, so Misako says that you can fuse some of his tissues back together. She said it would help stop the internal bleeding."

Lloyd let the smile drop back into a frown as he got to his feet. "He's still bleeding?" His voice was incredulous.

Zane nodded. "But just barely. It's not a huge deal anymore, but better safe than sorry."

"Good," Lloyd replied. He walked straight up to Zane and whispered in his ear. "I'm worried about Nya," he said. "This is more than just grief in her head, Zane. This is...insanity."

Zane nodded. "I know, Lloyd." He smiled sadly. "I need to teach her how to deal with her emotions better. Dwelling on the past like she does will only break the mind." He gave Lloyd a quick hug and a gentle push toward the door. "I'll work on it."

"You know," Lloyd stopped at the door and faced him. "You know you're not the only one who loves Nya, Zane. Granted, your love is different than ours, but everyone on the team loves her as a sister." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "She is the joy of the team, and Cryptor is stealing her away. Please, don't let him." He turned and ran off without another word.

Zane stared after him for a long moment, puzzling over his words. He forced it into the back of his mind and went to Nya's side.

She was awake, he could tell that much. But she didn't seem to be fully aware of what was going on around her. Zane knelt next to the bed and grabbed her hand. "Love," he whispered. "Nya, are you okay?" He knew that she wasn't okay, but he wanted to hear her speak.

Nya blinked once and looked at him. "No," she whispered shakily. "No, Zane. I'm not okay."

Zane gave her a smile. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Nya nodded and sat upright. "I want to say that I'm sorry." She whispered.

Zane gave her a strange look. His one good eyebrow raised questioningly. "What do you have to be sorry about, love?" He stroked her cheek.

Nya grabbed his hand and held it there. "I haven't been behaving very well at all lately."

Zane chuckled. "Naughty girl, huh?" He leaned in a little bit.

Nya pursed her lips. "I've been really selfish and mean...for a long time now." She scooted closer to him. "And I haven't been focussing on your needs, or anyone else's." A tear rolled down her cheek. "Being with Kai, and taking care of him the past day has shown me that I need to stop with the depressive behavior, and find something to be glad about at all times." She leaned in closer to his face. "I love you, Zane." Her voice was wavering with emotion.

Zane opened up his arms, and Nya fell into his embrace. He was anticipating a long crying session, but she was silent and dry as her arms clutched him tightly.

He kissed the top of her head lightly, amazed by her sudden change. He put his head on her shoulder and smiled. "I love you so much, honey." He whispered softly into her ear.

Nya kissed his cheek and nested her head in his shoulder. "I love you too, frosty."

They sat there, wrapped in the other's embrace, for several long seconds. A short knock sounded at the door, and she lifted her head, so she could see who it was. Lloyd stood there, with a small smile on his face.

"Yes, Lloyd?" Nya addressed him gently. She unwrapped herself from Zane's embrace and grabbed his hand.

The golden ninja gave her a short smile and nodded down the hall. "Kai's awake, and he wants to see you." He turned and walked off without another word.

Zane looked at Nya with a grin and a wink. "Are you ready, love?"

Nya stood with her own little grin and pulled him out the door as fast as she could.

Her fiancé had a hard time keeping up with her sudden pace, and he let out a chuckle. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

Nya laughed suddenly, surprising even herself. "Zane," she said. "After what I've been through, I'm reach for anything." Her heart felt surprisingly light and free as she bounded down the hall. The feeling of euphoria that had settled in her mind was so foreign that she wondered if she had actually lost her sanity.

"Nya..." Zane resisted playfully and laughed. "He's not going anywhere, I'm sure. We can act like mature adults."

Nya turned to face him with a bright twinkle in her brown eyes. "I don't really see the fun in that, frosty." She pushed open the kitchen door and bolted in.

The door started to shut itself in Zane's face, and he let out a startled cry and shoved it it back open so fast that the hinges threw the door against the wall. "Slow down, will you?" He gave up after that.

Nya let go of Zane's hand and ran straight up to the table, pushing past a startled Cole. She stopped beside Kai and her smile dropped a little bit. He didn't look much different. The blood spots under his skin had shrunken just a bit, but his skin was just as pale.

He smiled at her, showing white teeth. "Hey, sis." He said hoarsely. He coughed and cleared his throat. "You nearly gave me cardiac arrest when you barged through that door."

Nya grabbed his cold hand. "Sorry," her smile grew again, and she kissed his hand. "Serves you right, you know. I nearly went crazy waiting for you to wake up."

Kai scoffed. "I'm starting to think that you were already crazy, Nya." He laughed weakly. "When was the last time you had a smile like that?"

Zane came up behind Nya and wrapped his arms around her torso. "No one knows, Kai." He rested his head in her hair. "But she's the prettiest fruitcake I've ever seen."

Nya gave a cry of indignation and turned to face him with a mock look of offense. "You're supposed to be on my side, Zane."

"Am I?" Zane's blue eyes had a certain glint that made Nya's heart do backflips in her chest.

Nya felt a hand on her arm, and she turned her head to face its owner. Kai was smiling warmly with open arms. She wriggled out of Zane's grasp and gave her brother a long, hard squeeze. She let a few tears fall as she stood bent over the table, her brother held tightly in her arms. "I love you, big brother," she whispered.

Kai was too numb to feel the pain that ripped through his body as she hugged him. He did not even want to know how many drugs he had running through his veins. "I love you too, sis." He whispered back.

* * *

Zane woke up the next morning with a horrific jolt and a gasp. He shot straight upright, his head spinning as he tried to figure out where the loud beeping noise was coming from. Sweat beaded at his temple, and his fingers quaked as he realized it was his computer alarm clock. It was four in the morning, of course.

After the teary reunion the morning before, Zane had spent the day talking, planning, and avoiding questions about his torture. It was information he would not relinquish easily. No matter how many times Cole assured him that he was safe, and no matter how many times Nya held him tightly and told him it would be all right, he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. They were not safe, and he would not be all right.

Zane opened up a panel on his arm with twitchy fingers and flipped a switch. The alarm immediately went dead, and he fell back onto the blankets, shivering in terror as he looked out the window, and into the early morning twilight. He was glad that he had a room all to himself, because he most certainly did not want anyone to see him like this. He needed a few minutes to compose himself before he went to Nya.

* * *

Nya awakened slowly, opening her eyes and staring blankly at the dark ceiling above her. She felt that something was definitely off, but she couldn't put her finger on it for several minutes.

She turned over in the bed and rubbed her eyes. That's when it hit her. She bolted upright, more in surprise than anything else. _No nightmares._

She leapt from the bed and turned on the light, so she could look at the clock on the far wall. Her blurry eyes read the ticking hands without much surprise. It was just after four.

She glanced over at Kai, who lay sound asleep in the bed next to hers, breathing shallowly. She turned out the lights quickly, not wanting to disturb him.

She grabbed the blanket off of the bed and wrapped herself in it, wondering why her mind had given her a day of respite now, of all times. She opened the door and tiptoed down the hall to Zane's room. The monastery was big, with four rooms, furnished with two beds and everything else a guest may need during a stay. Cole and Lloyd had shared a room, Herself and Kai in another one. Zane had insisted on getting his own room, saying that he did not want to put anyone through the trouble of moving beds around. He was just fine alone.

But could tell, just by looking into his eyes that night, that he was anything but fine with solitude. However, she could do nothing to help him, so she had just given him a hug and told him goodnight.

Now, pattering down the hallway to his door, she was wishing that she had requested that Lloyd slept in the room Zane wanted, so Cole could have shared a room with the wounded android.

She grabbed the door handle and pushed it open tentatively, not bothering with a knock. If Zane were awake, he would have had the lights on. He hated the dark. It wasn't that he was afraid of it, it was just that he liked to have light from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep.

Nya tiptoed up to the bed and looked at him. What were the odds of her having her first dream free sleep in years, and Zane's first sleep-in time, in the same night? She reached down with a finger and stroked his cold cheek.

Zane opened his eyes with a gasp and slapped her hand away, then leapt to his feet and shoved her against the wall. She fell to the floor with a short yelp of pain.

He growled and lifted her to her feet roughly, then looked at her face and gasped again. "Nya?" He set her down on the floor gently, then fell to his knees. He let in a shaky, unsteady breath, them let it out slowly. "I'm so sorry, love." He whispered. "Did I hurt you?" His blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

Nya scooted away from him, her heart beating like a drum in her chest as she panted. "What...what was that, Zane?" She said, a little louder than necessary.

Zane forced himself to keep calm as he struggled to find an answer. "I thought you were someone else," he said eventually. "I'm so sorry."

"Who?" Nya asked, slowly regaining her composure. "Who did you think I was, Zane?"

Zane began to tremble. The weight of it all bore down on him like a crumbling mountain. He had been at the top of it, only to have the stone beneath him fall away and bury him alive. "It doesn't matter." He said it a little harsher than he should have. "I-I'm sorry, love. I should have come. Was it bad?"

Nya scooted a little closer to him. "Was what bad?" She asked. "You're not making any sense."

Zane hugged his knees to his chest. "Your nightmares. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stayed in bed so long. I-I've been up for a while."

Nya closed the distance between them and knelt behind him. She wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders and clasped them in front of his chest, which were slick with sweat, and rough because of the missing patches of skin. "I didn't have any nightmares this morning," she said. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Zane smelled her breath as it flowed with her words. It was musky and sweet, like perfume. It cleared his senses and helped calm his racing heart. "That's good." He whispered back. The warmth of her body against his made his shivering ease slightly.

Nya kissed his cheek. "You want to tell me what's wrong, frosty?" She inquired patiently.

Zane twisted his body around and pulled Nya onto his lap. He positioned her so that she could rest her head on his chest. "I don't think you want to know." His voice was shaky. Not shaky with emotion, but with terror. "It is too terrible."

Nya felt his heart beating much too fast in his chest, and knew that her steady rock had somehow crumbled. Fear crept into her heart, but she kept it at bay. Her fingers crept up and played with Jay's ring at her neck. The one thing from her past that the fire did not consume. "I wanted to have you tell me yesterday," she whispered. "But I couldn't find the time, and I could tell you did not want to say it to everyone." She felt her hand grow slick with his sweat as she held it pressed over his heart.

Zane felt a buzz shoot through his body at her touch. The delicate fingers of one hand were on his chest. The other hand snaked behind his back and rested behind his shoulder, pulling them both into an embrace of sorts. He wrapped both of his arms around her body and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Nya." He said softly.

Nya allowed a hint of a grin to poke through her lips. "I love you too, frosty." She sighed and allowed a moment of spine to pass between them. "But seriously, Zane. Will you please tell me your story? It might help."

"No." Zane said, far too quickly. He reconsidered his answer and nodded slowly. "I-I mean, yes." He cleared his throat. "I can tell you parts of it."

His reaction only scared Nya more. She closed her eyes against a sudden wave of emotions, then reopened them after a minute. "What did they do to you?" She whispered.

Zane suppressed the sudden urge to scream full-throated at the ceiling as the memories came back to him. _Intense pain, bound hands, and a gentle touch as Cole whispered, "what did they do to you?" In a grieved tone._

Zane hated the feeling inside of him. He hated how different he felt. He was not the same man that he was before the Nindroid attack two days before. Or was it three days? He really could not tell. "They..." He struggled with the words._ How was he supposed to tell her of his life the past forty-eight hours without scaring her half to death?_ "They tortured me, Nya." Of course, she already knew this. Anyone who took a sidelong glance at his body would guess nothing less.

"Yes?" Nya pressed him to continue in a gentle, soft spoken tone.

His throat closed up tightly, and he had to swallow a few times to get it open again. "They did more than just wound my body, Nya." He croaked out. "They wounded my mind." A chill ran down his back. "Do you really want me to tell you about what he said, what he showed me, what he made me do?"

Nya was taken aback by this new side of her fiancé. "You always told me that talking to a close friend about your troubles will help you conquer them," she said quietly.

Silence spoke in the absence of words for Zane. He listened to the gentle cadence of her breath as it rose and fell, and smelled the sweet scents of...he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was a mixture of several soaps that Misako liked to use. Peppermint, perhaps, was one of them. Or maybe eucalyptus and lavender?

He rested his head in her hair. For whatever reason, he had a strong urge to do so. Maybe so his nose could be closer, and he could get a better whiff?

...Or maybe because he was losing his sanity, and desperately needed someone to hold onto while he plummeted...

He took a deep whiff, telling himself that that was his reason for resting on her. He was not breaking, he did not need her support. He was merely wondering what on earth that sweet scent was.

"Zane?" Nya's voice brought him back to reality after several minutes, which must have felt dreadfully long to her, but only lasted a blink in his mind. "I'm scared."

Zane decided that the scent was definitely eucalyptus. "Why?" He whispered. "Kai will be fine, and it will be at least another twenty four hours until the Nindroids realize that we survived their blast. We are safe." Honestly, he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

Nya slid her hand down his skin. Her fingers ran over several cold, skinless spots in its descent. "That doesn't scare me," she said. Her hands went back up to his shoulder, and began to fall again in a methodical caress down to his lap. "I'm scared for you. You're not the same man you were before you left."

Zane had to struggle for an answer. He had not expected her to say that. "You've changed too, my love." He said after rebounding.

"Not like you," she argued as her hand slid down another time. "You shouldn't have ever gone with him."

"It's more complicated than that," Zane said sharply. "Or didn't you hear? He was going to kill you."

Nya paused. "No, I didn't know." Her voice was hurt, and genuinely surprised. "I passed out right after you told him to stop."

Zane grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry, Nya." He whispered. "I shouldn't have been so harsh."

Nya held his hand tightly. "It's okay, frosty." She sat straight and cupped his cheeks in her hands.

Zane's nostrils flared as her hot breath seemed to override any sense of logic he still had left in his mind. Their faces were inches apart now.

Nya curled her perfect lips upward into a smile. "Thank you so much, Zane." She leaned in and kissed his forehead tenderly. "What you went through for us...it is something I won't forget. Not in a thousand years."

Zane's pupils dilated, and a fresh wave of emotions swept through him. He had to close his eyes, because they simply wouldn't focus on anything. His heart beat at twice its normal rate, trying to keep pace with his discombobulated mind. _What on earth were these emotions?_ They were completely foreign to him, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do with them.

Nya threw her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. "I just hope your sacrifice doesn't hurt you worse than it already has, Zane."

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, a crazy dance that only distracted his mind further. But to his surprise, it made him feel good. It numbed the pain in his mind, and eased the tension in his muscles. It pulled the blinds over the memories he had made the past few days, although he knew the respite wouldn't last long.

He held her tightly and rested his head on her shoulder. He turned his head in slightly and kissed her neck. "What would I do without you, love?"

Nya let a few tears slide down her cheek and onto his metal shoulder. "What would I do without you?" She made the question double back around to him. "Cryptor would have killed me, if you have not done what you did."

Zane let the dam crack. A few tears fell from his eyes, which he still kept pressed shut tightly. "That is what love does, Nya." He whispered. "Trying to love without dying to yourself does not make sense."

Nya smiled and let out a chuckle. "Love is more than just affections, isn't it?" She asked. "Love is dying to yourself, so others might live. That's what you're saying?"

Zane kissed her cheek and smiled, deciding that he did not care of she saw his tears. "Love conquers all."

* * *

_I am with you, I will carry you through it all_

_I won't leave you, I will catch you when you feel like letting go_

_'Cause you're not, you're not alone_

_And I will be your hope when you feel like it's over_

_And I will pick you up when your whole world shatters_

_And when you're finally in my arms, you'll look up and see,_

_Love has a face._

**_-Not Alone, Red_**

* * *

**Honestly, that song alone is enough to get a person choked up. That band deserves a lot more credit than it gets.**

**And special thanks to Ted Dekker's books for some of the inspiration the past week. That think that Zane said right at the end, 'trying to love without dying to yourself doesn't make sense,' is actually loosely based off of something one of his characters said. I LOVE his books. **

**So, what did you think? PLEASE tell me if you find any of those brackets, [remember these?] Because they're not supposed to be there. And misspelled words? I know there's got to be a million of them in here. I've only read this through twice or three times. **

**Please review!**** Countless hours went into this project, can you spare a few seconds to tell me you appreciate it? Constructive criticism appreciated greatly. **


	6. Of Love and Trauma

**I know...I said that I would give you a wedding next chapter, I'm sorry. I do not have the entire chapter ready right now, but soon. **

**This chapter is going to be detail on Zane's torture, plus some pre-wedding stuff. So be warned, a few minor blood/gore things. But it is not that bad at all. If you made it through the last chapter, you'll be fine. This is much less descriptive than the stuff with Kai. **

**Please leave a comment! **

* * *

The sun shone warmly on the monastery that morning as the two men walked together outside of its gates in the trees. One of the men was a tall, handsome blue eyed man with slicked back blond hair that seemed as if it had been meticulously groomed that morning. He had his left arm looped through another man's right elbow to support the brown haired, shorter man with an ugly limp as he walked along with a cane in his left hand.

They were coming near the end of the short circuit around the monastery. The worn dirt path would take a healthy man a grand total of three minutes to walk. But the path took an average of ten minutes for the invalid and his escort.

"Are you excited, Zane?" The brown haired man asked. His hazel eyes looked up at the blond with a mischievous glimmer.

Zane's face flushed a shade, and he nodded after a moment. "I think excited is a gross understatement, Kai." He said quietly, a smile gracing his lips. "No words could possible describe the elation I have right now." He walked patiently at Kai's side, not judging him for the slow pace. The man had been stabbed nearly three weeks before, and though he was making a remarkable recovery, he still could only walk short distances. And even the short walks caused him considerable pain. But Kai swore that he would start to lose his head if he did not get some fresh air once and a while, so Zane had been taking him out on small walks every other day, if he wasn't too busy with work in the city.

Kai grinned teasingly. "No, you've got to have some word that would work." He said. "Come on, Zane. You're like a living thesaurus. Come up with a good word for..." He scrunched his eyebrows as he continued walking at his torturously slow pace. "How about joy?" He finished the sentence. "That's an easy one. Come up with a few antonyms for joy."

"You mean synonyms?" Zane said with a wide grin.

"Yeah, whatever." The shorter man rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

Zane snorted and was silent a moment. "Mirth," he said slowly. "Bliss, ecstasy-"

"There you have it, Zane." Kai said with a nod. "Bliss, mirth, elation, ecstasy, joy. That's what you are feeling."

Zane sighed. "You are forgetting an important element, brother."

Cobblestones replaced the dirt path, indicating the near end of the walk. "I am terrified."

"Of what?" Kai asked patiently.

"Of many things," the Nindroid said with a short grunt. "I guess you could call it wedding jitters. But it could also be called anxiety, because I am terrified of letting her down." He sighed slowly. "I am afraid that I may not being the man she needs me to be. I am not very good at this. Especially with my brain condition."

Kai leaned heavily on his cane as they walked though the gate and into the courtyard. "Does everything you've been doing for Nya for years now not count?" He asked, now breathing heavily. "You've been more of a man to her than I could ever hope to be, Zane, stress problems or not. You do realize that, don't you?" He looked up at Zane's blue eyes for conformation.

Zane looked at him for a long moment, trying to make sense of what Kai had just said. "And it's more than that, Kai." He said. "I don't think I've ever told you, but I can't have kids."

This made Kai stop short. It took Zane a moment to realize that his brother-in-law had stopped, and he almost made both of them trip as he backpedaled and looked at Kai, his face full of shame.

Kai cleared his throat and spoke. "Have you told Nya?" He asked.

"Yes," Zane nodded. "She told me it didn't matter, but I could see it in her eyes. She was disappointed." His eyes found the stone floor, and he stared at it as he waited for an answer.

He heard Kai sigh quietly amidst the sounds of birds chirping and the other men laughing in the kitchen.

"Zane," the master of fire said after a long moment. "Who are you kidding, man?" He tried to find Zane's eyes, but the man was looking at the ground. "Hey, look at me." He said firmly.

Zane slowly looked up, and Kai continued. "Nya loves you," he said with an encouraging smile. "You're all she ever talks about. I think you're overreacting. There are other ways to get kids, you know." He slowly took a step forward with his left foot, still leaning heavily on the cane.

Zane went into stride next to Kai once again, and they cleared the distance between them and the front door within a minute. "Thank you, Kai." He said with a faint smile. It was a smile that seemed more relieved than anything else. "I appreciate your words." He opened the door with his free hand and spoke again. "Where do you want me to set you down?"

"On the couch," Kai replied. "Thanks, Zane."

Zane helped him into another room, where a few couches sat facing each other, centered around a glass coffee table. "No problem," he replied.

Kai clung to Zane's arm tightly as he lowered himself onto the couch. After he was situated comfortably with a blanket and a book Zane left the room again.

He went into the kitchen for a snack, grabbing an extra apple on his way out. He went back to the courtyard and sat on the front steps in peaceful silence, listening to the pleasant noises all around him, which mainly consisted of loud birdsong, a gurgling river just outside the gate, and the other men inside, who were still talking and laughing.

He took a bite out of one of his apples, chewing slowly as the sweet juices ran over his tongue.

Arms suddenly grabbed him from behind, and his heart seized as a million different scenarios ran through his head. Was it Cryptor?

No, Cryptor had been dead for a couple weeks now. It was someone else. _What? Who? What?_ His mind wouldn't function because of his complete terror.

"Hey, frosty," Nya whispered in his ear. "You okay? You're a little rigid."

Zane forced himself to breath, and he slowly got his heart under control. _Not Cryptor, _he told himself. _You are safe, she won't hurt you._

He reached for her hands, which were clasped on his chest, and realized that he was trembling. "Please, Nya." He said fervently. "Don't do that."

Nya observed his shaky fingers as they clasped firmly over her own, and she reprimanded herself for being so careless. "Sorry, Zane." She kissed his cheek and gave him a squeeze. "I should know better by now."

Zane clasped one of her hands in his own and kissed it gently. "It's okay, love."

Nya turned to face him and sighed as she observed his pale face. "No, it's not okay, Zane." She said as she sat down next to him. "I'm surprised that you still have these stress attacks." She leaned her head on his arm, because she couldn't reach his shoulder. "I love you, frosty." She said softly. "I really hope you can start feeling better soon."

Zane kissed her forehead. "I'm sure I will, Nya. It's just hard for me to tell myself that he's actually gone." He sighed shakily and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "I have a hard time telling myself that he can't hurt me anymore."

Nya wrapped her arm around his middle and gave him a squeeze. "I love you so much, Zane."

He chuckled softly, easing the tension in his chest. "You just said that, you know."

Nya gave him a warm smile and got as close to him as she could. "I don't want you to forget it."

They sat in silence together for a long while, simply enjoying the pleasure of the other's company. The sounds of laughter and talking inside the monastery stopped after a stretch of time, only making the birdsong seem louder. Not that either of them minded, because they both loved the feathered creatures.

Zane slowly composed himself, wondering of he ever really would be free of the horrific memories that plagued him day and night.

After a bit of research a week ago, he had decided that he had a case of post-traumatic stress disorder, more commonly called PTSD. The only thing that even remotely calmed him was having Nya in his arms. His love for his fiancé and everyone else in the monastery was what kept him going. Without them, he was certain that his brain condition would be much worse.

What seemed to confuse him more than anything else was the fact that he had only spent nine hours with Cryptor, and less than a day in the enemy's custody. Three weeks later, he still had not recovered from the encounter. It may seem irrational for such a strong, steady man to be brought so low in a mere twenty or so hours, but Cryptor was by no means a merciful captor, nor did he exercise restraint when he tortured his victims.

"The wedding is in a week, Zane." Nya said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Zane looked at her face and smiled. "Yes it is, love." He kissed the top of her head. "Are you excited?" He was painfully aware of the fact that Kai had asked him that same question ten minutes earlier.

Nya nodded and let out a small yawn. The heat always made her feel sleepy. "I'm just glad that the Nindroids are gone, and we can finally live in peace."

A chuckle escaped Zane's throat. "Until the next evil arrives," he said. "Face it, love. You know it'll happen eventually."

"Yeah," Nya said reluctantly. "But we are at peace for now, and we have the reward money for defeating the Nindroids, so we can hope for at least a few months of peace in our new home."

"Which we can move into in a week," Zane added. "I still feel guilty about us taking most of the reward to purchase that house, but we do need our own home, since we are a couple."

"Not officially," Nya corrected him. "Remember, we don't even sign the papers until the day before the wedding."

Zane gave her another one-armed squeeze. "Papers don't mean a thing, Nya. You and I both know that. He paused a moment. "What is your favorite bird?"

Nya pondered this a moment. The quick change in the conversation surprised her greatly. "I like kites," she said. "You know, the large birds that basically coast on the air?"

Zane nodded thoughtfully. "They are a beautiful, majestic type of bird, aren't they?" He brooded on this a moment. "Do you know which type is your favorite?"

Nya hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "I forget what it's called," she said slowly. "It's brown."

"A whistling kite?" Zane suggested.

Nya shook her head. "No, that isn't right. It has something to do with bugs, I think." She held her hands about a foot apart. "And it's only about this big."

"Ah," Zane nodded in understanding. "A snail kite?"

Nya snapped her fingers. "Yes, that's it!" She said triumphantly. "I like their eyes. Sort of bluish grey, and really big and round."

Zane had to smile at her antics. Nya had a passion for birds that rivaled his own.

"Why did you want to know, frosty?" She asked.

Zane shrugged nonchalantly. "No reason." He stared out at the sky above the tall walls of the monastery and watched his falcon fly in lazy loops for a while.

Nya noticed his awkward, tense silence and addressed it. "What's wrong?"

Zane noticed that he was trembling, and he broke his stare. After pushing his thoughts into a semblance of order, he spoke. "I-I don't know," he said. "I just...I'm scared."

Nya furrowed her brows. Zane was never scared. Even if he was, he never told anyone, He was too reserved for anything like that. "Of what?"

"It...has to do with Cryptor," he said reluctantly. Could he tell her? Dare he even speak of the things on such a beautiful day? His tale was better suited for around a campfire, when everyone was feeling exceptionally brave.

Nya sat in his arms and felt his body tremble under her like a soft earthquake. He was having a relapse now, of all the times he could have chosen?

Then again, it was not his choice. His condition was something out of his control. She reached up, pulled his head down, and kissed his cheek. "You want to go for a walk?"

Zane shook his head slowly and sighed. "Maybe later. Right now, I think..." He pursed his lips. "I think I need to talk about what happened that night."

Nya felt her heart catch for a moment before beating again. "You really do trust me with this?" She asked, dumbfounded. Zane had never given anyone even an inkling of a clue about what his torture had been like.

Zane nodded again. "I have to explain why certain things make me so..." He searched for the right word. "Anxious."

When Nya did not speak, he began before he could talk himself out of it. "I was driven like an animal for eight, maybe nine hours after I was taken from the Bounty," he said. "I got beaten whenever I tripped or fainted. When we finally arrived at the large camp, I was blindfolded and shackled in the tent they had prepared specifically for prisoners. It had everything in it, from chains on the wall to whips, taser guns and tools for...disassembling machinery. That was my first clue to the fact that they had been planning on capturing me the whole time, and that my volunteering had only made it easier for them."

He went silent for a long moment, and Nya dared to look up at his face. He was staring at the far monastery wall as if it were a screen, and he was reliving the horrific memories all over again in his mind, not just recalling little details. He looked as though he thought he was actually there, with his wide eyes and mouth parted slightly, as if in horror.

"What happened next?" She prompted. "Take your time."

Zane took a deep breath. He could not have an emotional breakdown in front of his girl.

He stared at the wall in silence for several long minutes before he finally felt strong enough to speak. "I am so ashamed," he said. "The things they made me do are unforgivable. You will see, when I am done with the story, why I have not told anyone. It's not because what was done down there was terrible, but because I was the one who did the them." He clenched his fists on his lap. "I am sorry, Nya," he said quickly. "Oh, please forgive me."

Nya scooted close to him and brushed his hair from his face. The gesture made him stiffen. He seemed too afraid to even look at her, too afraid to continue his seemingly unneeded apology.

"Zane?" Nya's voice broke him away from the darkness, and back into the courtyard. "You don't have to tell me."

He eventually relaxed his muscles enough to blink and swallow away the dryness in his throat. He had to tell her the story. The whole story with no exceptions, no tears, no external weakness for her to find. "They stripped and shackled me between two posts in the center of the room," he continued. "I was still blindfolded, and my wrists were in the fetters about seven feet above the ground, forcing me to stand, because the steel had dull spikes around the inside of the band. Not sharp enough for a person to be able to cut their wrists and potentially bleed to death, but sharp enough to hurt terribly if you tried to go limp and hang by your hands."

Nya was appalled. She snuggled close to his body, a new level of appreciation growing in her chest. She'd only heard the beginning of the story, and a chill was already running down her spine. He was braver than she had ever imagined.

Zane wrapped a sweaty arm around her and closed his eyes against the wave of terror. "I was given fifteen minutes to rest before they began flogging me," he said. "That was the physical part of my torture. They beat the body first, so that my mind was weaker when they began the worst part, which I will tell you in a moment. The Nindroids did the flogging in intervals. I would have ten minutes of beating, then fifteen minutes to rest. They did that for about two hours. I only remember that because the sun was beginning to go down when Cryptor finally told them to stop and leave for the last time. I was so numb that I didn't feel the pain in my wrists when my legs gave way and left me hanging by the chains. Having the blindfold was one of the worst parts, because they could sneak up on me and begin the beating without me even knowing they were there until the pain was already on my back, or my arms, or...I need not continue on that one. The blindfold was there for the specific purpose of keeping me disoriented. I could not see them, so I had no clue when or where the next blow would hit. "He stopped again and seemed to lose himself in his thoughts.

Nya laid a hand on his chest and sighed deeply. "You don't have to tell me, Zane. It's okay."

Zane shook his head firmly. "I need to tell you," he said. "I think it will help some, knowing that someone else can help me carry the burden. I just hope you can forgive me for what..." He swallowed. "For what I did."

Nya was more concerned than ever. What could he have done? If anyone needed to beg for forgiveness, it would be those Nindroids, of whom the team had ready defeated and destroyed. They payed for what they had done to Ninjago with their lives.

"They unlocked the chains, took the blindfold off, and made me stand on my feet," Zane said. "It took a couple beatings, but I eventually stood and walked to the far side of the tent, where they shoved me to the floor and bound my now skinless wrists in coarse, scratchy ropes in the same manner as the shackles before, only these were positioned about four feet from the ground, so I could sit down. I think I must have passed out, because everything went black, and when I woke up, everything was dark. I'm not sure if the sun was down, or of the tent's thick canvas blocked it out. The only light came from a strange bulb in the center of the room. It seemed to float somewhere between the floor and the ceiling, which made me think I might have been hallucinating."

He shuddered slightly. "Cryptor came in with two young men, bound hand and foot, and set them on the floor of the tent, leaving a few paces between each of us. It was a sort of triangle, I guess. He told..." His voice faltered, and he started over. "He told me that we had one hour to get acquainted , then he left. None of us had any clue what would happen when he came back."

Nya closed her eyes and created a picture of the scenario in her head.

"Their names were Zachary and Ashton," Zane said. "They had been kidnapped a few days before. They had received no rough treatment, unlike me, and had merely been prisoners. That only added fuel to my idea that Cryptor had been planning to take me for a while, and had captured them simply to break my mind."

He stopped a moment to compose himself again. "When Cryptor came back, he walked right up to me and explained the 'game,' as he called it. Every hour, he would bring in two people, then leave us alone. After the hour was up, he would come back, and I would decide which one he was going to kill."

Nya could not contain the gasp. "Oh, Zane," she managed. "Tell me he didn't."

Zane looked at her with his grayish blue eyes, sparkling with tears, and shook his head. "No," his voice was cracked and low, barely above a whisper. "He told me that either I would choose one to set free, or he would shoot them both. That was how he played. I was the judge, he was executioner. But if I didn't play by his rules, he would kill both. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he would not change his mind. So...so I chose Zachary. Cryptor shot him in the head, and let Ashton go free."

Nya's mouth was agape. "So...he said that he would kill them both, unless you chose?" She asked. "You told him which one you though deserved to live more than the other."

"But it wasn't my place," Zane said angrily. "I should not have been forced to do such a thing. He might as well have given me the gun and forced me to shoot them myself."

Nya caught the word 'them' and her mind started reeling. "There was more than one set?" She asked.

Zane nodded, seemingly unable to do anything else. "There...there were five other sets," he said slowly. "I selected six people in total, and they were shot. I chose six others who survived and were set free."

He hesitated, his mouth opening and closing like a fish for several seconds as he forced out the words. "And they weren't all men, either." His voice came out all wrong. It was strained and squeaky, and full of guilt. "He had several different sets. I had to chose between saving the man or his wife...the mother or her daughter...the eight year old boy, or the fifty year old man." He pressed his eyes shut and began to cry silently, his chest heaving with the convulsions. "Oh, I am so, so sorry, Nya." He said over and over again. "I am so sorry."

Nya stared at him with wide eyes, her lip quivering as she tried to untangle the mess. Everything she thought she understood about his condition melted away. This was not a man who was afraid that Cryptor could be out there, trying to get at him and hurt him physically. This was a man torn by guilt because of the choices he had been forced to make. He was so torn that he had been reduced to an out of control train of emotion on a crash course for depression.

It was finally making sense to Nya now. Zane thought he was a monster. He thought he was a murderer of wives and children. He thought that he was undeserving of forgiveness.

Nya touched his shoulder tentatively, to see how he would react. After receiving no reaction, she scooted close to him and made hushing noises as she tried to comfort him. "Listen," she said softly. "I forgive you, frosty. Nothing you did is going to make me love you any less." She wiped his eyes gently with her sleeve. "That was so brave of you, Zane. You are a strong man, going through all of that and coming out again." She offered him a smile. "I'm proud of you."

Zane opened his eyes slowly and shook his head. "No, Nya." He said in a wavering voice. "I am not strong. I am a coward. If I had any sense, I would have refused to comply with his demands and-"

Nya pressed a finger to his lips. "If you had refused to comply, there would have been twelve dead people instead of six," she said. "You did a good thing. You know that, right?"

He stared at her in silence for a long moment, scolding himself for showing his weaknesses like this. "How could you be proud of what I have done?" He asked, voice raw like sandpaper. "How could you forgive me for such an act?"

Nya kissed his forehead gently and laid her head on his chest. "Because I'm your fiancé," she said. "However awkward and foreign the word may seem now, I am yours. I am supposed to forgive you."

She threw her arms around him so suddenly that he couldn't react. "I love you so, so much, Zane." She said. "Thank you for going through that for us." She put her head on his shoulder and kissed his neck. "If you hadn't done what you did, Cryptor would have killed us. Then where would Ninjago be?"

Zane processed this a long moment, unblinking, before returning her embrace. "I...I don't know," he answered her question. "Nowhere good, I suppose."

Nya nodded and pulled away, so she could see his face. "You are a hero, Zane." She said. "It is terrible that those six people had to be the price, but you weren't acting of your own free will. Cryptor was doing it all. You are not responsible for their deaths."

Zane looked into her teary eyes and became aware of the fact that he was once again crying silently. He absolutely hated his weakness, but he knew he could not hide it any longer. Nya had peeled away his shell and exposed the delicate, fragile skin underneath. And he loved her for it. It was like plucking out a thorn. Painful for the first moment, then less so thereafter.

"Zane?" Cole spoke up behind them.

"Yes?" Zane was all too aware of the tremor in his voice and the wetness around his eyes.

The black haired man stood in the doorway, pale as a sheet. "I...I hope you don't mind that I heard all of that," he said in an equally shaky voice.

Zane's eyes flickered with panic, then mild annoyance, then a weak smile. An upward turning of the lips and a deep breath. "And what do you have to say about my story?"

Cole was silent for a long moment. He looked almost goth, with his black hair and pale skin. His black eyelashes seemed accentuated by the lack of blood in his face. "I am horrified," he said slowly. "I cannot believe that Cryptor did that to you." He walked toward the couple and held out a hand. "And I have never respected you more, brother. That was truly the most amazing story I've ever heard, and we are undeserving of your friendship. What you went through for us is something I will never forget."

Zane took the hand and allowed the man to pull him to his feet. Nya stood up and stood next to them. "Did anyone else hear?" She asked.

Cole shook his head. "Garmadon tried to come through the door once, but I shoed him away. One eavesdropper is plenty enough, I think."

The Nindroid offered a grateful smile. "Thank you, Cole." He said. "I appreciate that."

The master of earth opened up his arms and pulled Zane into an embrace. "No," he said quietly. "Thank you, Zane."

* * *

Kai was reading a book in bed when Nya walked in one night several days later.

He set down the book and slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Hey, sis." He grabbed his cane from the wall and leaned on it as he got to his feet. "Ready for bed?"

Nya gave him a distracted smile and nodded. "Yeah," she said.

"Uh oh," Kai said. "What's wrong?" He slowly made his way to where she stood bent over a dresser drawer, selecting nightclothes.

She stood up with a small bundle in her arms and shut the drawer with her foot. "Nothing," she said as she went into the walk-in closet and shut the door.

Kai stood still and stared at the closet door in silence, considering his options.

_Consider: Tomorrow was the wedding._

_Consider: They just got back from town after signing the papers, so they were technically married now._

_Consider: She was in a foul mood, and needed a hug._

The door opened a minute later, and Nya came out wearing baggy sweat pants and a tank top.

Kai never understood woman's choice in dress. Why wear sweat pants if you were just going to wear a skimpy top? Sort of defeated the purpose of staying warm.

He smiled at her and went back to his bed. He sat down slowly, ignoring the pain in his side as he moved. It was a part of him now, and he had learned to almost entirely block it from his mind. "Come over here, sis." He said.

She walked over to the bed, but Kai stopped her. "Hold on," he said. "Grab the brush."

Nya let out a low groan of annoyance and turned on her heel. She grabbed her hairbrush off of the dresser and went back to the bed. She slapped it down in his palm.

Kai gave her a short laugh. "Someone's in a bad mood," he said, grabbing her hand. "Sit down. You're not getting out of it."

Nya plopped down with her back to Kai, legs crossed on the bed. "Why are you so persistent?" She grumbled.

"Why are you so grumpy?" Kai shot back with an annoying grin. "You and Zane are, by the government's standards, officially a couple. Then you come back in a mood that would make lemons pucker. Aren't you happy?"

Nya sighed heavily. "Yes, Kai. Of course I am happy."

"But..." Kai prompted.

"But he's ignoring me!" Nya exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air and jerking her hair out of Kai's grasp. "This whole week he's been keeping himself cooped up in the basement, and won't let me even touch the stairs."

"Huh." Kai grunted and got a hold of her hair again. "Details, please?"

Nya was silent a moment as she bit her lip. "There isn't much to tell," she said. "He's always been partial to the basement as his quiet getaway, but I was allowed to come down whenever I wanted. About a week ago, he approached me and requested that I stay away from the basement for a few days while he did some cleaning. He knows that dust and mold make me contract the flu virus, and didn't want me to be sick." She paused for a moment.

"But he has been more interested in cleaning that basement than spending time with you?" Kai asked. "That's what you're thinking?"

"Yes," Nya said with a light sniff. Kai knew she was in the verge of tears. "I don't understand why he would want to do such a silly task on the week of the wedding. He's-"

"Nya," Kai interrupted. "Listen, baby. You're going to hate me for saying this, but he's got a life too. Being a married couple is going to mean that you both need to make sacrifices. Right now, that sacrifice would be letting him do what he wants." He chuckled as he ran the brush through a section of tangles. "Basements can't stay dirty forever, you know. If he wants to clean, let him. Tomorrow, you guys will have your own home, and he will be forced to let go of any cleaning project he's been working on here." He leaned forward carefully, minimizing the pain in his old wound, and kissed her cheek. "Patience, love, forgiveness and respect. Got it?"

Nya nodded and turned to face him. Her brown eyes were wet with tears, but she had a smile on her face as she gave him a hug. "You're so smart," she said. "Thank you so much, big bro."

Kai set down the brush and returned the hug. "Anytime, sis."

* * *

Cole crept into the basement as quietly as possible, tiptoeing down the stone steps and into the dusty room below. It was dank and fairly dark. He reached the bottom step and looked around at the mess.

Zane was standing at a table lit by a single bulb directly above it, his back turned to the intruder as he worked fixedly on some project at the table.

Cole came up behind Zane, arms crossed casually as he observed the mechanics on the wooden table. "What do you have there, Zane?" He asked.

Zane gasped and dropped his screwdriver on the floor, startled by his voice. He turned to face Cole, clutching his chest with his right hand and breathing heavily, eyes wide with alarm. "Please stop that!" He exclaimed, placing his left hand on the table and leaning heavily on it.

Cole backed up a single step. "Sorry," he said. "I forgot about your..." He didn't know how to say it without coming across as insensitive.

"Condition?" Zane filled in, pupils contracted to pinpoints. "Call it what it is, Cole. Don't sugar coat it. I have an anxiety problem, and I know it full well. You won't offend me by saying it to my face."

The master of earth placed a gentle hand on his best friend's shoulder. His green eyes were gentle and soft. "Listen, I wasn't trying to chew you out. I was just curious to know what you were doing." He wasn't going to lie to himself. Zane's behavior concerned him deeply. And after hearing his story a week ago, his concerns had only grown.

Zane took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I wanted to keep it a secret," he said. "But I can tell you, since you've already seen it." He brushed Cole's hand away from his arm. "Just promise me that you won't tell Nya."

Cole let his hand drop to his side as he nodded. "Sure thing, Zane."

Zane ran his fingers through his hair and looked back at the table. "This is Nya's gift," he said, gesturing to the machine on the table.

Cole stared at the object for a moment. "Is it a bird?" He asked.

"Yes," Zane said. "A kite, actually. I'm going to give it to her tomorrow."

Cole looked into Zane's eyes and examined them carefully. All of the fear that had shadowed his face moments before had vanished, giving way to pure excitement and joy. His blue eyes were alight with childlike energy as he grabbed a screwdriver and messed with something in the bird's panel.

It had no feathers yet, which was part of the reason Cole had such a hard time identifying what it was. By all accounts it looked more like an oversized mechanical football than a bird.

"What do you think?" Zane asked, drawing Cole out of his thoughts. "Will she like it?"

Cole smiled a broad, albeit somewhat forced smile. "The wedding is tomorrow, Zane." He said. "It's eleven o'clock. We should both be in bed." He nodded slowly and patted the android's shoulder. "And yes, I think she will like it a lot."

"Will she love it?" Zane asked, setting down the screwdriver and going for a bolt.

"Naw," Cole shook his head, making Zane stop and stare.

"Why not?" Zane looked concerned. "What makes you think she won't love it?"

Cole shifted his weigh awkwardly from one foot to the other before speaking. "Because she'll be so caught up in loving you," he said. "There's not room for much else in her heart. But yes, she will definitely like the bird."

Zane looked relieved. He let out a short yawn and took a drink out of a water bottle on the floor near his foot. "This project is taking longer than I anticipated," he said. "But I should be done within an hour or two. I just need to tighten a few bolts and get the feathers attached." He held up the robot and held it at Cole's eye level. "What do you think of its eyes?" He asked.

Cole looked into the bird's large, round eyes, which were unblinking and dead. "Bluish grey," he observed. "Nya's favorite colors."

"Actually, orange is her favorite," Zane said. "She likes deep, reddish oranges and most shades of blue." He set the bird down and grabbed a single feather from a cardboard box on a shelf. "She also likes grey and brown." He gave a slight shrug as Cole took the feather from him. "It's a good brown mix, don't you think?"

Cole held up the feather and ran a finger across the tiny segments. The feather had a little bit of grey, with some orangish brown mottled into it. "It is remarkable, to say the least." He handed it back. "So are you going to attach the feathers individually?"

Zane widened his eyes and shook his head. "No, I would not waste time with such an effort." He took the feather and went back to the box. He took out what looked like a small rug made up of feathers instead of fur. "I started this a few days ago." He set it on the table carefully and smoothed the grayish brown feathers, so they all laid the same direction.

"It is not real feathers," he explained. "They are synthetic, just like the skin." He turned over a corner of the strange material. "It's a lot like my skin, the difference being that I have hair instead of feathers." He stroked the soft feathers. "The skin was one of my father's inventions," he said. "Such a brilliant mind, it is a shame to have lost him."

Cole touched the soft, downy feathers and pieced together Zane's broken explanation. "So the skin will grow the feathers in the same way you grow hair?" He asked.

Zane nodded. "Yes, exactly."

Cole gave Zane a genuine smile and hugged the robot tightly for a long moment. "I'm going to bed," he said as he let Zane go. "Good luck, don't stay up too late, and try not to have too much fun with your last few hours as a bachelor."

Zane smiled back, his face flushing slightly. "I'll try, Cole." He said. "Thank you for that wise advice." His tone was mildly sarcastic.

Cole snorted once and went back up the stairs, leaving his best friend to finish his work without any more interruptions.

* * *

**Please leave a comment! And subscribe to my channel, press that little ****thumbs-up button. **

**Expect the next chapter within a few days. C:**

**So what do you think? Do you like my torture methods? I thought it was clever. Poor Zane...**


	7. Now and Forevermore

**I'm sorry of you were wanting a longer chapter...I've been distracted with True Grit. I've got a couple of little plot twists coming in chapter 11! I'm pretty excited about it...Pixal is awesome...**

**So...on to topics that actually concern this story...**

**If you're wondering where Wu is, I think he's still on that trip in the mountains. I know, he's been gone quite a while...pity he missed the big day...**

**I know that Zane is OOC. I did it on purpose, because of his condition. His brain functions a little differently now than it did before the incident. **

* * *

Nya awoke to the sound of chirping, and she opened her eyes slowly. She glanced around the room, trying to figure out what had made the noise. Her door was closed, and she knew that the window was shut as well. She had done that herself last night, because she hated drafts. She glanced at the clock and rubbed her eyes so she could get it into focus. It was just after seven. Kai was sleeping soundly in the bed next to hers.

She heard the noise again, and her head turned to the window with surprise. The window was open, and sunlight was filtering through the open blinds and onto the floor. Uninteresting details, hardly worth her time. What caught her attention was what was on the windowsill.

A medium sized bird with a sharp, hooked beak and mottled brown and grey feathers sat there, staring at her with its round blue eyes. It chirped again, and something clicked in Nya's head. It was a kite.

She sat up slowly and put her feet on the floor. Walking with slow, deliberate steps, she approached the sill and held out her hand.

As she had expected, the bird held its wings slightly extended for balance and stepped lightly onto her arm, being careful not to cut her delicate skin with its talons.

"Oh, Zane..." She tried to speak, but her sentence ended up trailing off as she stroked the tiny feathers under its beak. She set it back on the windowsill and grabbed her clothes, which she had laid out the night before, after Kai was done with her hair. She ran into the walk-in closet and quickly changed. She went through her hair quickly and washed her face before picking the bird back up and slipping into her shoes.

She pushed the door open and ran down the hall to the kitchen. As she expected, Zane was cooking breakfast. He had his back turned to her, and was apparently preoccupied with whatever he was mixing in the bowl.

Nya wanted nothing more than to sneak up behind him, like she had done a few times when they were on the Bounty. But remembering what usually happened when someone did that, she restrained herself. She set the bird down on the table and knocked on the wall softly.

Zane immediately turned his head and looked at her. He set down the spoon and smiled. "Good morning, love." He said.

Nya covered the distance between them in a couple short bound and threw herself into his arms. "Good morning, frosty." She said with an unexplainable giggle.

Zane kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her. "Do you like it?"

Nya smiled and nested her head under his chin. The combination of her being short and him being tall made it so that she could barely kiss his cheek without standing onto her toes. And he usually had to bend over as well.

"I love it, Zane." She said. "Thank you so much."

Zane let out an unexpected laugh of triumph. "I knew Cole's logic was a little flawed," he said to himself, although Nya could hear the words. She didn't question it, though. She recognized an inside joke in his tone, and she did not feel like having him explain it.

Nya extricated herself from his grasp and went over to the counter. "What are we making?" She asked.

Zane ran his arm over her shoulder and rubbed it gently out of habit. "I was just making pancakes," he said. "I wanted to keep everything as stress free as possible, so I woke up early to start this. I was thinking that if everyone could wake up with breakfast taken care of, we could take care of more pressing matters on today's agenda."

Nya put her hand over Zane's hand on her shoulder. "You should have made Lloyd do it," she said with a cheeky grin. "After all, this is your special day."

"It's yours as well as mine, love." He replied. "And we've been through this before. I enjoy serving you guys. Call it my therapy."

"Well Lloyd loves to help out too," Nya argued. "You're like a second father to the kid. He'd love to cook."

"Well I don't need any help," Zane said. "Case closed."

Nya scoffed lightly. "You're such a guy," she said. "I'm sort of supposed to be your helpmeet. Are you saying you don't need me?"

"No!" Zane exclaimed, eyes wide with sudden anxiety. He took a deep breath and composed himself. "Listen, I'm sorry. That's not how it was supposed to come out." He stroked her hair and pushed a few wavy strands out of her face. "I do need you, Nya." His voice trembled with emotion. "You're the only thing that helps to keep the fears at bay."

Nya grabbed his hand before it could drift away from her hair. "I know," she said. "And I need you too. I think that's what makes us so similar. Even before Cryptor attacked us a month ago, we've both had this mutual need for attention and affection."

Their fingers intertwined, Zane's being a bit more shaky and unsteady. "I have an idea," he said, pulling her toward the door. "Grab your bird, she shouldn't be in the kitchen alone."

Nya held out her free hand, and the kite immediately leapt into the air and flew to her arm. It's wingspan was so long that it had trouble not knocking things over in its short flight.

The couple left the room, and Nya allowed herself to be pulled into the courtyard. It was decorated with roses, which Misako had purchased the day before. The white blossoms were in four different vases on the steps, where the ceremony would take place. There were two vases on each side. Everyone said that they should get more decorations for the courtyard. Maybe some balloons, by suggestion of Lloyd, or a simple arch, a thing Kai was loath to give up.

Zane and Nya had both insisted that they did not want any such things. It was a simple ceremony, so why bother? The part that mattered was the people who were there. They did not have the money to do any large scale decorating.

"What are we doing, Zane?" Nya asked as she was pulled into the center of the courtyard.

Zane smiled and wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her close. He began to dance, his legs moving in slow, swinging steps. "I don't recall ever doing this with you before," he said. "I wanted to do it now." He stepped slowly, allowing Nya time to figure out the simple dance. Most of the moves were consisted of simple swaying as the partners went in a slow circle.

Nya quickly got the hang of it, and they transitioned to faster steps. "This is nice," she said after a little while. "We should do it more often."

Zane pulled her close and kissed the top of her head before stepping backwards and giving her a twirl. "I think so too," he said. "Want to try a faster step?"

They spent the next ten minutes doing crazy spins with no real rhythm or technique, but neither cared. At one point, Zane grabbed her by the torso and lifted her petite body above his head, doing a crazy off-center spin that made him trip and nearly fall. But he caught himself just before his right knee could hit the stones, and he set Nya firmly on her feet before he had even completely righted himself. They were both laughing heartily and spinning again within the minute, dizzy from the elation.

* * *

Zane stood on the steps in his formal black pants, shoes and sky blue button up shirt, nervous and shaking like a leaf as the ceremony began.

They had changed up many things about the way the wedding was to be done. Misako and Cole had been a bit upset about this, but Lloyd, Kai and Garmadon seemed to understand his and Nya's need for a less flamboyant and extravagant party.

They had not made any real friends in the past few years. Jay's parents and Cole's dad did not count as friends, because they were really family to Zane and Nya, as well as everyone else on the team. So there were no people outside of _family_ at the ceremony.

Everyone was standing in the courtyard, because Nya had wanted the ceremony to be short and sweet. Dragging out seven chairs for such a short event was not only a little bit pointless, but it was an uneven number. If they were going to include the part the Kai insisted they include, which would be him walking the bride down the isle, then they would need to part the chairs in two different groups; three in one side and four on the other.

The thought of such a thing had made Zane shudder, the first time it had been suggested. Having no isle was better, hands down. Zane could stand uneven numbers of people. What he could not stand was uneven numbers of chairs.

Zane felt as if time had slowed as soon as he had walked out into the steps and stood before Garmadon, who had volunteered to read the vows. He took a deep breath and returned the green eyed smile of the elderly man, who was dressed much like Zane, save that the white shirt he wore sat under a black dress coat and a warm green tie.

Zane knew that the word 'warm' did not really work for green. Green was a 'cool' color. But somehow, in his giddy, half senseless state of mind, warm seemed to suit the forest green strip of fabric hanging around the man's neck.

He turned to face the small group of family and friends, his closest and only confidants in this world, and found himself unable to hide both the smile on his face and the slight blush in his cheeks as he waited expectantly for Kai to come through the front gates with Nya holding his arm.

Zane and Nya had both agreed that she would not wear a traditional wedding dress. They apparently felt like breaking all the rules with this wedding and had agreed, to Misako's horror, that she would wear a less expensive, but no less appealing, dress.

He still had not seen it, of course. Nya and Misako had gone shopping a while back, and had purchased the outfit while he did other things with Cole and Lloyd. Nya had assured him that the dress they had chosen was well within their price range, and was more pretty than any plain old white dress with lace and ruffling skirts, all of which Nya hated with a passion. If she was going to wear a dress, it had to have some color, no lace, and absolutely no ruffle. She was the type who preferred a pencil skirt over a ruffled dress.

Right when Zane thought he would lose his sanity from the wait, it finally happened. Cole and Lloyd swung the gates open wide, and the figure standing in her brother's arms took his breath away. Literally.

She stood in blue flats. A wonderful choice, if you did not have to consider the fact that Zane would have to bend over a foot and a half to reach her lips. A couple inches on the heel would not have hurt. But Zane thought the shoes made her look so much more flattering than anything else she could have chosen, because they seemed to represent innocence. The slender, pale legs that rose from those shoes only heightened the sense of angelic purity that she seemed to radiate.

She wore a strapless, sparkling blue gown that made Zane think that Misako must have talked Nya into a more formal dress than she had originally wanted. It looked like a simple bridesmaids dress rather than a bride's gown. It barely covered her knees.

The dress somehow managed to make her look younger. If he did not know her, his first guess on her age would have been no older than twenty-one, while in reality she was pushing thirty.

Her black hair fell in ringlets to her pale shoulders, shining almost red in the sunlight. Oh, Zane was so glad that he had talked her into growing out her hair. Whenever her hair reached a certain length, it would start to get wavy. She had apparently used that to her advantage today, and spent a little time curling it with an iron after putting on the magnificent dress.

As she came closer, he could see that she wore no makeup. He was glad, because she really did look better without it. Her face glowed with joy, and her cheeks had a rosy blush as she found his gaze and held it with a dreamy stare.

Kai was just as happy. Anyone could see it, if they simply looked hard enough. He was just a bit more controlled with it, keeping most of the joy on the inside instead of letting it rise to the surface. But Zane had known Kai for five or six good long years now, and they had spent almost every day of it training alongside each other.

Zane knew that Kai was absolutely elated. His face glowed with pride, joy, and a little hint of jealousy as he limped up the final step with his sister and let go of her arm. He shot Zane a look that the Nindroid translated with no difficulty. '_Take care of her, or I'll break your neck.'_ He said it with a smile, of course. And he had said as much five months earlier, when Zane had approached him with sweaty palms to ask for his sister's hand in marriage.

Zane was hardly aware of what he was doing as he held out a hand for Nya. Her cool hand slipped into his sweaty palm, only making him all the more aware of just how out of his comfort zone he was. While Nya smelled of gardenia blossoms, he thought he smelled like a sick mixture of scented deodorant and sweat that had steeped under the heat of the noonday sun a few minutes longer than necessary. He made a little note in the back of his head to start buying unscented spray.

"...are gathered here today to signify..."

Zane realized then that he wasn't listening to Garmadon's speech. Was it important? He wasn't sure, but his mind still refused to cooperate, so he genuinely hoped that it wasn't too terribly critical. Nya's round brown eyes seemed to leech away any control he still had over his mind.

A gentle nudge to his shoe brought him back to reality. Nya had noticed his lack of attentiveness, and had kicked his foot in the most subtle way that she could manage.

Zane blinked and jerked his head back an inch, drawing a light chuckle from a few people standing in the courtyard. He managed to keep his flush under control, and he saw that Lloyd was on the steps with the rings, trying really hard not to laugh as he looked at the bridegroom's face.

Zane took the two rings and held them in his palm as Nya began to speak. His heart skipped a beat. Uh-oh... He was supposed to prepare a short speech. He mentally made a target out of himself and shot a few sharp silver shurikens into it. He would have to come up with something on the fly.

"Zane," Nya began, eyes moist with tears. "When I first met you, you were the man with a strange affection for the simplest pleasures in life. The tiniest things would make you smile, from a flower growing in a patch of barren gravel to larger things, like watching Kai make a fool of himself as he stupidly accepted Jay's dares. Things like who could run the fastest, or who could stay underwater the longest." She sniffed and took a moment to compose herself. "Although I didn't always really appreciate or notice it, because I had Jay and my brother, you were always there."

She gave his hand a squeeze. "We've been good friends from the beginning, because of all that we have in common. And the things that aren't the same in our personalities only make you seem all the more mysterious and beautiful to me."

Her dam sprung a leak, and tears came down her cheeks silently. "Even after Jay had come and gone, you patiently put up with my selfish impulses, putting me before everything else in your life. Our friendship had blossomed, seeded, and starting a month ago, began to give birth to new shoots of emotions and passions I never imagined possible, after I finally started to contribute to the relationship." She let in a breath, and released it shakily. "And I love you so much, frosty. You are all I could ever hope for in a man. I couldn't ever possible live up to standards high enough to deserve you, even if I worked for a hundred years."

Zane found that his own eyes were watering profusely as she finished her speech. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out short of a squeak. He cleared his throat and tried again. This time, his voice came out, shaky but bold. "I-I would have to say agree to disagree on a lot of those things you said." He managed to start blazing a path, and he continued on that course. "We have been good friends for many years now. We had shared a wonderful platonic relationship, thinking that we could never really ask for more."

A lump grew in his throat, just painful enough to keep him in reality. "But..." He let out a forced chuckle. "This is going to be our first argument as a married couple. I say that I really don't deserve you, Nya. You are more wrong on that point than humanly possible. I could never, even if I worked two hundred years, live up to standards required to deserve you."

The lump grew into a fist, clobbering his air passage painfully as he held up her hand and slid the sweaty, shiny white gold ring onto her finger. "But I will certainly try, my love." He had to admit, it wasn't too sloppy of a speech, having just come up with it on the fly with a fried brain.

Nya took the white gold band from him and slid it onto his finger, completely at a loss for words. The courtyard was so silent that Zane could hear the beating of the falcon's wings as it landed and alighted again. It was, as he had instructed earlier, taking pictures.

Garmadon read the vows. Again, Zane heard only a little bit of what was going on, because Nya's teary brown eyes were were drawing away his attention again. He looked down a few inches, eyes landing on her naturally pink lips, which formed the words "I do."

Of course, that drew him out again. He had a vague notion that he was on a bungee cord, and his body was, at one point, stretched taut and near reality. But then at the next moment, he would go flying into the air, mind soaring and free before falling back down again. It was a crazy, whacked-up cycle. And just like a bungee jump, once you took that first leap, you were at the mercy of the cord tied at your ankles. You were committed, and no amount of shouting or thrashing would make it stop.

"...in times of sorrow, and of joy..."

He really had to get his head on the ground again. He was headed right for another embarrassing moment where Nya would have to kick his leg again. But it was impossible to stop the momentum of the cord looped around his mind's proverbial ankles.

"...as long as you both shall live?"

Darn. Zane found that he had no time to create another living target and shoot himself, so he spoke. "Now and forevermore." He wasn't really the type to go with they stereotypical-ness of an 'I do,' so that was what went between his trembling lips and into the open air.

"Well then," Garmadon spoke, folding the sheets of paper in his hand, and shoving them in his pocket with finality. "I now pronounce you husband and wife." He nodded to Zane, who's eyes were wide with elation and anticipation. "You may kiss the bride."

Zane was certain that his heart stopped beating as he leaned in (and down) and kissed Nya on the lips. Having never kissed before, he was not entirely certain of what to expect. The way he had ways seen it done was simply brushing lips. Nya obviously felt dissatisfied by that, because she put her hand behind his head, pushing his face into hers so suddenly that Zane opened his eyes in alarm.

...My goodness, he decided he had a lot to learn about kissing...

Her lips practically melded into his, creating a sharp, seemingly electrical charge through his body and mind as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. He learned quickly enough, however, and within the first three or so seconds of the kiss, he felt that it could perhaps become more natural, after a few more tries.

Applause filled the air a moment later, and they drew apart. Zane became aware for the first time of just how awkward the situation was, at least for him. He did not like being on the stage without any lines. He had rehearsed what he would do up to this point in his head, but after this, he had no clue what he was supposed to do.

Nya seemed even more lost than him, so Zane took control and worked, yet again, on the fly. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, his heart hammering in his chest like the fist of God.

He led her down the steps, and they entered the wave of congratulations, hugs and laughter without much regard to their surroundings, or even who they were talking to.

Cole's dad said his congratulations, as did the other guys. Nya saw Mr. And Mrs. Walker, and she let go of Zane's hand so she could give Edna a proper hug.

She smiled as they drew apart, and the elderly woman kissed her cheek. "I'm so glad you could make it, Edna." Nya said.

Mrs. Walker gave a short laugh and wiped her eyes. "Congratulations, honey." She said. "Jay would have been so happy to see this day."

That seemed to kill the mood for a moment as Nya tried to reply. "Thank you," she said, not allowing herself to acknowledge the wave of guilt that swept over her at the mention of her fiancé of nearly three years past.

They parted ways after a little more small talk, and Nya found Zane again. He was talking with Cole.

Actually, Cole was doing the talking. Zane was smiling and nodding absently. Nya walked between them and put her hands on Zane's chest.

Zane looked down at her and smiled. Their lips touched again, and he scooped her into his arms, their faces still pressed together. Nya felt her heart to backflips in her chest as he spun in a circle, holding her securely in his strong arms.

Nya clasped her hands behind his neck and laughed loudly with him, wishing the moment would never end. She wanted to pause everything right there and live in that moment for the rest of her life; so full of joy that everything else was all but nonexistent.

* * *

**Please leave me a review! I love to get them. If I didn't get reviews, I wouldn't be here writing. Your feedback is what keeps me going. **

**I just wanted to say this before I forgot again: While I was writing part 1 of this story (with Zane's torture) I was listening to Capital Lights. **

**...*Let that sink in*...**

**Yeah. You can just imagine me sitting on my bed with my earbuds in, describing the details of Zane's time in the tent, singing Rhythm 'n' Moves. Terrible, right?! I am truly a wretched person. (If you haven't heard Rhythm 'n' Moves by Capital Lights, go look it up.) Carolyn is a good one too...**

**Anyways...**

**In case you guys ****don't really understand why Zane gets upset by people touching him suddenly, talking loudly, etc, it's because when he was in the 'torture tent,' he had that blindfold on, and the Nindroids would come up suddenly and beat him before he could even prepare himself for the pain. Imagine yourself in his place, between those beams, unable to determine when the next blow would come. I'm sure you'd be a little wary after that too. **


End file.
